基于虚拟技术的环境监测仪器设备管理方法

利用虚拟现实、虚拟环境技术,通过人机交互方式,在现实空间之外创造另一个尽可能真实的、互动的模拟世界,使应用者可以直观、随意地观察和管理仪器设备,实现检测仪器全生命周期的运行轨迹记录和过程跟踪,凭其强大的可视性、溯源性和易操作性,较明显地提高仪器设备的利用率与管理水平。     

聚合铝铁对A2/O系统 EPS及生物絮凝性能的影响

通过向实验室构建的A2/O模型好氧池末端投加聚合铝铁(PAFC)来强化系统的生物除磷,使得出水总磷达到《城市污水处理厂污染物排放标准GB 18918-2002》中的一级A标准,并重点分析投加的PAFC对A2/O系统中活性污泥胞外聚合物(EPS)和活性污泥生物絮凝性能的影响.结果表明,随着PAFC投药量的增加,A2/O系统活性污泥EPS总量变化不大,但EPS组分中蛋白/多糖含量的比值逐渐降低,由投药前的3.30降低至投药后的2.30;EPS中金属离子含量逐渐增加,在厌氧-缺氧-好氧的运行周期内,各处理单元污泥的EPS中金属铝离子含量增加.投加PAFC后,活性污泥颗粒变大,二沉池出水的Zeta电位明显降低,由投药前-15.83 mV降低至-21.20 mV,污泥产量增加.因此,适量投加PAFC后,生物絮凝性能得到改善,出水中悬浊颗粒减少,出水水质变好.     

以稻草和污泥为碳源硫酸盐还原菌处理酸性矿山排水

以污泥为硫酸盐还原菌(SRB)接种菌群,分别添加等量稻草和乙醇,研究了SRB以不同碳源处理酸性矿山排水(pH=2.5)的过程及不同碳源对硫酸盐还原和重金属去除的影响.结果表明,在无外加中和剂的情况下,污泥中的碱性物质可在反应开始的1 d内迅速中和酸性矿山排水的部分酸度,使反应体系pH值从2.5升至5.4～6.3,利于SRB的生长.污泥中含少量易被微生物分解的有机物,体系中仅含污泥时,SO24-还原率最低(65.9%).添加稻草可促进SO24-还原(79.2%),因为污泥中的水解菌加速稻草分解,为SRB提供相对充足的碳源.添加乙醇为对照试验的体系中SO24-还原率最高(97.9%).含污泥的反应体系Cu2+去除率均高于99%,SRB驯化前Cu2+的去除主要归因于污泥的吸附作用.以稻草和污泥为碳源可实现低成本酸性矿山排水处理,对矿山环境的原位修复有实际意义.     

微压流化式复合生物反应器处理含酚废水效能的研究

通过连续动态试验,对新型微压流化式复合生物反应器(MP-FHBR)处理模拟苯酚废水的效能进行研究.结果表明,MP-FHBR的COD容积负荷可达4.86kg/(m3·d)、苯酚容积负荷可达1.96kg/(m3·d),出水COD低于200mg/L、出水苯酚浓度低于1mg/L,COD和苯酚去除率分别达到90%和99%以上.当苯酚容积负荷达到2.04kg/(m3·d),苯酚在反应器中逐渐累积,反应器内微生物的TTC-比脱氢酶活性下降.当MP-FHBR进水苯酚浓度为800mg/L时,最佳水力停留时间为9～10h.水力负荷对反应器沉淀池的泥水分离效果影响较大,限制了反应器的进水量,所以MP-FHBR主要适用于处理较高浓度的含酚废水.     

硫化矿床自燃发火实验研究

金属矿山特别是硫化矿山,在开采过程中曾多次发生过矿石自燃火灾事故,给国家造成了巨大的经济损失.我国矿山企业中,有许多硫化矿山.本文综述了国内外在硫化矿床自燃发火实验研究方面的研究进展,指出我国至今还没有出台一套完整成熟的硫化矿床自燃倾向性实验室鉴定标准.     

A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings

Myrmecophily provides various examples of how social structures can be overcome to exploit vast and well-protected resources. Ant nest beetles (Paussinae) are particularly well suited for ecological and evolutionary considerations in the context of association with ants because life habits within the subfamily range from free-living and predatory in basal taxa to obligatory myrmecophily in derived Paussini. Adult Paussini are accepted in the ant society, although parasitising the colony by preying on ant brood. Host species mainly belong to the ant families Myrmicinae and Formicinae, but at least several paussine genera are not host-specific. Morphological adaptations, such as special glands and associated tufts of hair (trichomes), characterise Paussini as typical myrmecophiles and lead to two different strategical types of body shape: while certain Paussini rely on the protective type with less exposed extremities, other genera access ant colonies using glandular secretions and trichomes (symphile type). We compare these adaptations with other taxonomic groups of insects by joining contemporary research and early sources and discuss the possibility of an attracting or appeasing effect of the secretion. Species that are ignored by their host ants might use chemical mimicry instead. Furthermore, vibrational signals may contribute to ant–beetle communication, and chemical signals have proven to play a role in host finding. The powerful defense chemistry of paussines as “bombardier beetles” is not used in contact with host ants. We attempt to trace the evolution of myrmecophily in paussines by reviewing important aspects of the association between paussine beetles and ants, i.e. morphological and potential chemical adaptations, life cycle, host specificity, alimentation, parasitism and sound production.

Evidence for a male-produced pheromone in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetropium fuscum</Emphasis> (F.) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetropium cinnamopterum</Emphasis> (Kirby) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

(E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-ol (geranyl acetol), termed here fuscol, was identified as a male-produced pheromone emitted by Tetropium fuscum (F.) and Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby. In field experiments, traps baited with synthetic fuscol alone were not significantly attractive, but the combination of fuscol plus host volatiles (a synthetic blend of monoterpenes plus ethanol) attracted significantly more male and female T. fuscum and female T. cinnamopterum than did host volatiles alone. This is the first homoterpenoid alcohol to be described in the Cerambycidae, and the first pheromone reported from the sub-family Spondylidinae.     

Settlement decisions in blue tits: difference in the use of social information according to age and individual success

Dispersers are expected to assess breeding habitat quality before settlement. Although cues reflecting habitat quality are well studied, social cues have not been as well evaluated. In this paper, we studied breeding habitat selection during 3 years in a natural population of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, breeding in nest-boxes. Our aim was to investigate if this species used conspecific density and/or reproductive success of con- and heterospecifics (i.e., social cues) in settlement decisions. The patterns observed were consistent with the idea that juveniles, when dispersing from their natal patches, did not react to any of the cues that we tested. In contrast, breeders that dispersed seemed to respond to both conspecific mean patch reproductive success (PRS) and breeding density of the settlement patch in the year of dispersal, their response differing according to their own reproductive success. Indeed, failed breeders moved to areas with high PRS and low density relative to source patches, while successful breeders behaved the opposite. The comparison between juveniles and adults might be modulated by the limited time available to juveniles to gather information on PRS and density at the end of the dispersing year. Adults lacking these time constraints, however, seemed to rely on these conspecific cues although limited by their own quality. Additionally, breeders were more likely to be immigrants in patches with relatively low breeding success and density the previous year, suggesting that settlement is influenced by multiple cues, which may reveal information on different aspects of habitat and be available at different moments. Collectively, our results support the importance of social cues for blue tits’ settlement.     

Artiodactyls from the Pondaung Formation (Myanmar): new data and reevaluation of the South Asian Faunal Province during the Middle Eocene

Although Asia is thought to have played a critical role in the radiation of artiodactyls, the fossil record of stem selenodonts (“dichobunoids”) remains dramatically poor in tropical Asian regions. In this study, we report a new dichobunid genus and species Cadutherium kyaukmagyii and a new basal ruminant genus and species Irrawadymeryx pondaungi, from the late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Central Myanmar. Although the scarcity of the present material prevents any attempts to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of Cadutherium with contemporaneous forms from other Holarctic landmasses, this new form shed new light on the diversity of these small rabbit-like ungulates during a key period of their evolutionary history. Reexamination of the small-bodied artiodactyls from Pondaung leads us to propose new identifications of certain published specimens and, in turn, to investigate the temporal and geographic distribution of taxa recognized in the Pondaung Formation. Although fragmentary, these potential new taxa reveal an unsuspected diversity of small forms among artiodactyls of Pondaung. This addition to the Eocene record of dichobunoids and early ruminants provides further insight in the diversity of dental patterns among small artiodactyls from the Pondaung Formation and attests to the antiquity of these groups in Southeast Asia.     

Power matters in closing the phenotyping gap

Much of our understanding of physiology and metabolism is derived from investigating mouse mutants and transgenic mice, and open-access platforms for standardized mouse phenotyping such as the German Mouse Clinic (GMC) are currently viewed as one powerful tool for identifying novel gene-function relationships. Phenotyping or phenotypic screening involves the comparison of wild-type control mice with their mutant or transgenic littermates. In our study, we explored the extent to which standardized phenotyping will succeed in detecting biologically relevant phenotypic differences in mice generated and provided by different collaborators. We analyzed quantitative metabolic data (body mass, energy intake, and energy metabolized) collected at the GMC under the current workflow, and used them for statistical power considerations. Our results demonstrate that there is substantial variability in these parameters among lines of wild-type C57BL/6 (B6) mice from different sources. Given this variable background noise in mice that serve as controls, subtle phenotypes in mutant or transgenic littermates may be overlooked. Furthermore, a phenotype observed in one cohort of a mutant line may not be reproducible (to the same extent) in mice coming from a different environment or supplier. In the light of these constraints, we encourage researchers to incorporate information on intrastrain variability into future study planning, or to perform advanced hierarchical analyses. Both will ultimately improve the detectability of novel phenotypes by phenotypic screening. Carola W. Meyer and Ralf Elvert contributed equally to this work.