Gamergates in the myrmicine genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Metapone</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

Gamergates (i.e. mated reproductive workers) are mostly known from ant species within the Ponerinae. We report here the discovery of gamergates in two species of the subfamily Myrmicinae. Until now, mated reproductive females in colonies of myrmicine species have been considered morphologically distinct from the worker caste. However, in two species of the myrmicine Metapone (Metapone madagascarica and a newly discovered, not yet described Metapone species) all workers have six ovarioles and a spermatheca; and some of them are mated. There are no morphological differences between mated and non-mated workers. Field observations and laboratory studies indicate that colonies of the Metapone species can reproduce with gamergates only.     

Vocal acrobatics in a Chinese frog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amolops tormotus</Emphasis>

Although amphibians are highly vocal, they generally emit only a limited number of acoustic communication signals. We report here the extraordinarily rich vocal repertoire of Amolops tormotus, a ranid species in China. These frogs produce countless vocalizations, some of which share features of birdsong or primate calls, e.g., ultrasonic frequency components, multiple upward and downward FM sweeps, and sudden onset and offset of selective harmonic components within a call note. Frame-by-frame video analysis of the frog's calling behavior suggests the presence of two pairs of vocal sacs that may contribute to the remarkable call-note complexity in this species. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0335-x.     

Inventory of emissions from major air pollutant categories in Turkey

In this study, an inventory of air pollutant emission estimates from major air polluting sources in Turkey for period between 1985 and 2005 with 5-year intervals were estimated. Inventory covers anthropogenic sources of five major air pollutants of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and non-methane volatile organic compounds. Their break-down with respect to main activity sectors were shown and their distribution by the largest industrial source categories were worked out as annual estimates. This inventory and its analysis point to serious environmental implications of air pollutants and a need to develop a policy plan for reducing these emissions.     

Intrauterine manometry: Technique and application to fetal pathology

A technique is described for measuring pressure within the amniotic cavity and within fetal vessels and/or body compartments. Two saline-filled catheters were connected at one end to needles inserted during indicated invasive procedures and at the other to silicon strain gauge transducers. In 36 pregnancies with normal liquor volume, stable intra-amniotic pressure (IAP, range 1–14 mmHg) increased with gestation (r=0·48, p<0·01). In pregnancies complicated by severe oligohydramnios, IAP was ≤ 1 mm Hg and rose to normal levels with saline amnioinfusion. Raised IAP (range 17–26 mm Hg), found in pregnancies with gross polyhydramnios, fell with drainage of amniotic fluid. Subtraction manometry was used to determine supra-amniotic pressure within the intervillus space, umbilical vein, umbilical artery, abdominal and thoracic cavities, and the urinary tract in normal and/or pathological fetuses. Low intravesical and intrapelvicalyceal pressures (median 6·5, range 2–10 mmHg) were noted in fetuses with obstructive uropathies. Intrauterine subtraction manometry appears to be a useful tool in the understanding of fetal pathophysiology and may be of clinical benefit in the therapeutic drainage and infusion of amniotic fluid and in the assessment of certain fetal disease states.     

Practical environmental monitoring of major construction projects

Independent teams undertook environmental monitoring of particular concentrations of major construction projects forming part of Hong Kong’s U.S. $20 billion airport infrastructure programme located in dense urban areas. The team combination of environmental specialists with experienced civil engineers enabled pragmatic mitigation measures to be developed and accepted by the construction personnel with the result that potentially significant adverse impacts were averted. The authors discuss the mechanism and success of this innovative approach.     

Hydrogen storage and distribution systems

Hydrogen storage and transportation or distribution is closely linked together. Hydrogen can be distributed continuously in pipelines or batch wise by ships, trucks, railway or airplanes. All batch transportation requires a storage system but also pipelines can be used as pressure storage system. Hydrogen exhibits the highest heating value per weight of all chemical fuels. Furthermore, hydrogen is regenerative and environment friendly. There are two reasons why hydrogen is not the major fuel of toady’s energy consumption: First of all, hydrogen is just an energy carrier. And, although it is the most abundant element in the universe, it has to be produced, since on earth it only occurs in the form of water. This implies that we have to pay for this energy, which results in a difficult economic task, because since the industrialization we are used to consuming energy for free. The second difficulty with hydrogen as an energy carrier is the low critical temperature of 33 K, i.e. hydrogen is a gas at room temperature. For mobile and in many cases also for stationary applications the volumetric and gravimetric density of hydrogen in a storage system is crucial. Hydrogen can be stored by six different methods and phenomena: high pressure gas cylinders (up to 800 bar), liquid hydrogen in cryogenic tanks (at 21 K), adsorbed hydrogen on materials with a large specific surface area (at T < 100 K), absorbed on interstitial sites in a host metal (at ambient pressure and temperature), chemically bond in covalent and ionic compounds (at ambient pressure), oxidation of reactive metals e.g. Li, Na, Mg, Al, Zn with water. These metals easily react with water to the corresponding hydroxide and liberate the hydrogen from the water. Finally, the metal hydroxides can be thermally reduced to the metals in a solar furnace.     

Alteration in Rhizosphere Soil Properties of Afforested <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhamnus lycioides</Emphasis> Seedlings in Short-Term Response to Mycorrhizal Inoculation with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Glomus intraradices</Emphasis> and Organic Amendment

The reestablisment of autochthonous plant species is an essential strategy for recovering degraded areas under semiarid conditions. A field experiment was carried out to assess the short-term effect of two reafforestation methods involving mycorrhizal inoculation and compost addition on soil quality parameters and Rhamnus lycioides seedling growth. The nutrient content (NPK) and enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, urease, protease-BAA, acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase) increased and bulk density decreased in the rhizosphere soil with the organic amendment. Biomass C of rhizosphere soil increased by at least 240% with respect to the control soil after mycorrhizal inoculation and the combination of compost addition + mycorrhizal inoculation. Both mycorrhizal inoculation and composted organic residue addition increased R. lycioides seedling growth in the same proportion. In the short term, we conclude that the application of both reafforestation methods not only enhances the establishment of R. lycioides seedlings, but also improves soil quality.     

Wetland loss and substitution by the Section 404 permit program in southern California,USA

To test the effectiveness of the 404 permit program in preventing a net loss of wetland resources, 75 Section 404 projects permitted in the years 1987–1989 and located in a portion of southern California were evaluated. From this group of projects, 80.47 ha of wetlands were affected by Section 404 permits and the Army Corps of Engineers required 111.62 ha of wetland mitigation. To verify the successful completion of each mitigation project, all 75 project sites were visited and evaluated based on the amount of dead vegetation, growth and coverage, and the number of invasive species. Based on the field verification results, the actual amount of completed mitigation area was 77.33 ha, resulting in a net loss of 3.14 ha of wetland resources in the years 1987–1989. By comparing the types of wetlands lost to the types of wetlands mitigated, it is apparent that, in particular, freshwater wetlands are experiencing a disproportionately greater loss of area and that riparian woodland wetlands are most often used in mitigation efforts. The net result of these accumulated actions is an overall substitution of wetland types throughout the region. Results also indicate that, typically, large-scale mitigation projects are more successful compared to smaller projects and that successful compliance efforts are not evenly distributed throughout the region. We recommend that better monitoring, mitigation in-kind, mitigation banking, and planning on a regional or watershed scale could greatly improve the effectiveness of the Section 404 permitting program.     

Development of Layered Sediment Structure and its Effects on Pore Water Transport and Hyporheic Exchange

Hyporheic exchange is known to provide an important control on nutrient and contaminant fluxes across the stream-subsurface interface. Similar processes also mediate interfacial transport in other permeable sediments. Recent research has focused on understanding the mechanics of these exchange processes and improving estimation of exchange rates in natural systems. While the structure of sediment beds obviously influences pore water flow rates and patterns, little is known about the interplay of typical sedimentary structures, hyporheic exchange, and other transport processes in fluvial/alluvial sediments. Here we discuss several processes that contribute to local-scale sediment heterogeneity and present results that illustrate the interaction of overlying flow conditions, the development of sediment structure, pore water transport, and stream-subsurface exchange. Layered structures are shown to develop at several scales within sediment beds. Surface sampling is used to analyze the development of an armor layer in a sand-and-gravel bed, while innovative synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography is used to observe patterns of grain sorting within sand bedforms. We show that layered bed structures involving coarsening of the bed surface increase interfacial solute flux but produce an effective anisotropy that favors horizontal pore water transport while limiting vertical penetration.