Seasonal changes in burrow geometry of the common mole rat (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)

Sociality in mole rats has been suggested to have evolved as a response to the widely dispersed food resources and the limited burrowing opportunities that result from sporadic rainfall events. In the most arid regions, individual foraging efficiency is reduced, and energetic constraints increase. In this study, we investigate seasonal differences in burrow architecture of the social Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus in a mesic region. We describe burrow geometry in response to seasonal weather conditions for two seasons (wet and dry). Interactions occurred between seasons and colony size for the size of the burrow systems, but not the shape of the burrow systems. The fractal dimension values of the burrow systems did not differ between seasons. Thus, the burrow complexity was dependent upon the number of mole rats present in the social group.     

Influence of dissolved organic matter character on mercury incorporation by planktonic organisms：An experimental study using oligotrophic water from Patagonian lakes

Ligands present in dissolved organic matter （DOM） form complexes with inorganic divalent mercury （Hg^2＋） affecting its bioavailability in pelagic food webs. This investigation addresses the influence of a natural gradient of DOM present in Patagonian lakes on the bioaccumulation of Hg^2＋ （the prevailing mercury species in the water column of these lakes） by the algae Cryptomonas erosa and the zooplankters Brachionus calyciflorus and Boeckella antiqua. Hg^2＋ accumulation was studied through laboratory experiments using natural water of four oligotrophic Patagonian lakes amended with^197Hg^2＋. The bioavailability of Hg^2＋ was affected by the concentration and character of DOM. The entrance of Hg^2＋ into pelagic food webs occurs mostly through passive and active accumulation. The incorporation of Hg^2＋ by Cryptomonas, up to 27% of the Hg^2＋ amended, was found to be rapid and dominated by passive adsorption, and was greatest when low molecular weight compounds with protein-like or small phenolic signatures prevailed in the DOM. Conversely, high molecular weight compounds with a humic or fulvic signature kept Hg^2＋ in the dissolved phase, resulting in the lowest Hg^2＋ accumulation in this algae. In Brachionus and Boeckella the direct incorporation of Hg from the aqueous phase was up to 3% of the Hg^2＋ amended. The dietary incorporation of Hg^2＋ by Boeckella exceeded the direct absorption of this metal in natural water, and was remarkably similar to the Hg^2＋ adsorbed in their prey. Overall, DOM concentration and character affected the adsorption of Hg^2＋ by algae through competitive binding, while the incorporation of Hg^2＋ into the zooplankton was dominated by trophic or dietary transfer.     

Speciation of organic phosphorus in a sediment profile of Lake Taihu II. Molecular species and their depth attenuation

The understanding of organic phosphorus(P) dynamics in sediments requires information on their species at the molecular level,but such information in sediment profiles is scarce.A sediment profile was selected from a large eutrophic lake,Lake Taihu(China),and organic P species in the sediments were detected using solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(31 P NMR) following extraction of the sediments with a mixture of 0.25 mol/L NaOH and 50 mmol/L EDTA(NaOH-EDTA) solution.The results showed that P in the NaOH-EDTA extracts was mainly composed of orthophosphate,orthophosphate monoesters,phospholipids,DNA,and pyrophosphate.Concentrations of the major organic P compound groups and pyrophosphate showed a decreasing trend with the increase of depth.Their half-life times varied from 3 to 27 years,following the order of orthophosphate monoesters > phospholipids DNA > pyrophosphate.Principal component analysis revealed that the detected organic P species had binding phases similar to those of humic acid-associated organic P(NaOH-NRP HA),a labile organic P pool that tends to transform to recalcitrant organic P pools as the early diagenetic processes proceed.This demonstrated that the depth attenuation of the organic P species could be partly attributed to their increasing immobilization by the sediment solids,while their degradation rates should be significantly lower than what were suggested in previous studies.     

白音华一号露天矿工程环境监理的实践与探讨

白音华一号露天矿工程施工建设过程中,将会造成大气污染、地表水污染、地下水疏干、噪声污染、排土场及工业场地占地等大量生态环境问题。因此,在工程施工之初开展环境监理工作,对加强环境保护“三同时”制度,落实污染物防治及生态保护措施具有十分重要的意义。     

Warm forming die design,part I: Experimental validation of a novel thermal finite element modeling code

Finite element analysis (FEA) has become an invaluable tool in the design of sheet metal stamping dies and processes. FEA has gained widespread acceptance as the best method of optimizing dies for conventional stamping processes. More recently, FEA has been shown to be an effective method of designing tooling for sheet forming processes. In this work, an FEA based approach is applied to the warm stamping (warm forming) process. This work introduces a new thermal finite element analysis software called PASSAGE®/Forming (PASSAGE) that enables the up-front design of the thermal management of warm forming dies. This thermal finite element analysis software is designed to specifically handle the forming and optimization scenarios related to the heating of a stamping die while minimizing user interface time. In this work, PASSAGE has been applied to a simple block of steel embedded with cartridge heaters to validate the prediction capability of this software under two different heating conditions. The results show that PASSAGE is capable of predicting the actual steady-state temperature distribution within the block with an acceptable level of accuracy while yielding notable information to the user with respect to specifying power requirements. A finite element software package like PASSAGE is a valuable tool that will aid greatly in the implementation of warm forming as a manufacturing process beyond the scope of the laboratory and into production.     

Development of a biaxial loading frame for sheet metal

Characterization of the evolving yield loci and forming limit diagrams for sheet materials under biaxial loading is necessary for the development of accurate sheet metal forming process simulations. Biaxial tension testing has been shown to have significant advantages over the current computational and experimental methods for such material characterization; however, the few commercially available loading frames are far too large and expensive to be practical for most metal forming research laboratories. In this paper, the design of a practical servohydraulic biaxial loading frame is presented. The design, control, and operation of the loading frame are discussed in detail, and experimental data is provided to validate the effectiveness of the control system with respect to specimen center shifting.     

海水中亚硝化细菌的分离鉴定研究

从海水样品中分离到1株严格自养的氨氧化细菌GW201210,对该株茵的形态特征、培养特性、生理生化特性等生物学特性进行了初步研究。结果表明,它为革兰氏染色阴性,无鞭毛,不产芽孢,细胞短杆状,呈单个排列或排列成直线。该菌株能将氨氮氧化成亚硝酸盐,不能还原硝酸盐,能利用CO2,在7％NaCl条件下生长,在肉汤培养基中不生长,其特性均符合亚硝酸菌的特征,并用PCR方法扩增该菌株的16SrDNA基因,进行16SrDNA序列比较、同源性分析并构建系统发育树,将菌株GW201210初步鉴定为亚硝化单胞菌属（Nitro．somonascommunis）o     

Shellfish-Borne Viral Outbreaks: A Systematic Review

Investigations of disease outbreaks linked to shellfish consumption have been reported in the scientific literature; however, only few countries systematically collate and report such data through a disease surveillance system. We conducted a systematic review to investigate shellfish-borne viral outbreaks and to explore their distribution in different countries, and to determine if different types of shellfish and viruses are implicated. Six databases (Medline, Embase, Scopus, PubMed, Eurosurveillance Journal and Spingerlink electronic Journal) and a global electronic reporting system (ProMED) were searched from 1980 to July 2012. About 359 shellfish-borne viral outbreaks, alongside with nine ProMED reports, involving shellfish consumption, were identified. The majority of the reported outbreaks were located in East Asia, followed by Europe, America, Oceania, Australia and Africa. More than half of the outbreaks (63.6 %) were reported from Japan. The most common viral pathogens involved were norovirus (83.7 %) and hepatitis A virus (12.8 %). The most frequent type of consumed shellfish which was involved in outbreaks was oysters (58.4 %). Outbreaks following shellfish consumption were often attributed to water contamination by sewage and/or undercooking. Differences in reporting of outbreaks were seen between the scientific literature and ProMED. Consumption of contaminated shellfish represents a risk to public health in both developed and developing countries, but impact will be disproportionate and likely to compound existing health disparities.     

石化管道储运员工心理评估结果分析

目的:了解石油管道储运员工的心理健康现状,建立管道储运员工症状自评量表(SCL-90)的群体常模。方法:运用整群抽样方法和症状自评量表(SCL-90)对5544名中国石化管道储运公司员工进行心理健康状况调查,将SCL-90结果与中国常模比较。结果:本次调查心理健康状况好3947人,占71.2%;心理健康状况良好1299人,占23.4%;心理健康状况一般238人,占4.3%;心理健康状况异常60人,占1.1%;石化管道储运员工在躯体化、焦虑、精神病性、阳性项目数均分显著高于全国常模;人际关系、敌对、偏执和精神病性因子均分男性显著高于女性,恐怖因子均分女性显著高于男性;35岁及以上组的躯体化、强迫、抑郁、焦虑、敌对、恐怖、精神病性以及阳性项目数的因子均分均高于35岁以下组;大专组和高中及以下组各项因子均分均显著高于本科及以上组。结论:管道储运员工心理健康状况低于一般人群。年龄相对较大以及学历相对较低员工的心理健康状况是企业关注的重点。     

浅析绿色建筑体系与低碳经济

通过查阅国内外相关资料,对绿色建筑体系从历史、定义及现状方面进行了简单论述,并结合日益受到重视的低碳经济,从经济与环保角度,对绿色建筑体系的标准、建材、设计等方面进行分析,阐明作为低碳经济发展重要组成部分的绿色建筑体系,将如何促进低碳经济的实现,使低碳经济这一概念更好地运用于现实,并对绿色建筑体系的发展进行了展望。