Trade-off between pre- and postcopulatory sexual cannibalism in a wolf spider (Araneae,Lycosidae)

Sexual cannibalism can occur before, during or after mating. Relatively few experimental studies have examined why there is variation in the timing of sexual cannibalism. We examined the latency and number of attacks required for female spiders to capture male spiders pre- vs. postcopulation. We also examined the effects of female mating status and hunger level on the occurrence of pre- and postcopulatory cannibalism, which reflects the contribution of both relative capture success and female motivation to cannibalize males. Precopulatory cannibalism occurred after a shorter interval and required fewer chases and physical interactions for the female to successfully capture the male than was the case for postcopulatory cannibalism. Virgin females were more likely to engage in postcopulatory rather than precopulatory cannibalism and mated females vice versa. Those virgin females that did engage in precopulatory cannibalism had significantly lower body condition than virgin females engaging in postcopulatory cannibalism. While precopulatory cannibalism occurred more quickly and required fewer attacks by females, it comes at a potential cost of not mating with males. Hence, females are more likely to engage in precopulatory cannibalism if they have already mated or, if virgins, if they have low body condition. These results indicate that the decision of when to cannibalize males is dynamic and depends upon the relative value of a male as a mate versus a meal.     

Characterization of soil low-molecular-weight organic acids in the Karst rocky desertification region of Guizhou Province, China

Soil low-molecular-weight (LMW) organic acids play important roles in the soil-forming process and the cycling of nutrients in Karst regions. In this study, we quantified the contents of LMW organic acids (including lactate, acetate, formate, malate, and oxalate) in soil solution over the Karst region of Guizhou Province, China using ion chromatography. The concentration of total LMW organic acids in topsoil solution ranged from 0.358 to 1.823 μmol·g^-1, with an average of 0.912 μmol·g^-1. The mean concentrations of lactate, acetate, formate, malate, and oxalate were 0.212±0.089, 0.302±0.228, 0.301±0.214, 0.014±0.018 and 0.086±0.118 μmol·g^-1, respectively. There were also significant difference in the contents of these acids among four phases of rocky desertification, and their concentrations decreased with the aggravation of rocky desertification. The concentrations of the LMW organic acids were significantly positive correlated each other. Significant positive correlations were also observed among individual LMW organic acids in soil solution, and between them and soil available P, available K, exchangeable Ca, respectively. Furthermore, the concentrations of LMW organic acids were significantly positively correlated with inorganic anions (chlorides, nitrates, and sulfates) in Karst topsoil solution. Therefore, the concentrations of soil LMW organic acids might be one of driving force in the Karst rock desertification process in Guizhou Province.     

Environmental impact of historical harbour city Zadar (Croatia) on the composition of marine sediments and soils

Sediment samples and soils along the coast line of the Adriatic Sea were sampled along a transect near the coast line at Zadar/Croatia, ranging from north-western suburbs via the historical centre and the industrial area to south-east suburbs. The sediments were dominated by carbonates and clay minerals, and contaminations with Cd–Cu–Pb–Zn–TOC (total organic carbon) at the historical centre and the industrial site were detected, as well as P and Mo input at the mouth of a small creek, probably from agriculture. No trends between the composition of surface and subsurface sea sediments were seen. At the historic harbour site, total element concentrations versus grain size showed a minimum in the fine silt fraction for most of the elements analysed. The soil samples behind the shoreline were not carbonaceous, but dominated by Fe–Al– oxides, some contained high levels of Be–Cd–Cu–Sn–Zn. Surprisingly, high TOC values within the soils might be assigned to human impacts, not to humus. Contrary to data from street dust samples from Seoul city/Korea, which were measured within our laboratory at the same time, Pt–Ir–Au were at ambient levels due to the limited use of catalysts in cars in the Zadar area at the time of sampling.     

The role of black carbon as a catalyst for environmental redox transformation

Black carbon (BC) is an important class of geosorbents that control the fate and transport of organic pollutants in soil and sediment. We previously demonstrated a new role of BC as an electron transfer mediator in the abiotic reduction of nitroaromatic and nitramine compounds by Oh and Chiu (Environ Sci Technol 43:6983–6988, 2009). We proposed that BC can catalyze the reduction of nitro compounds because it contains microscopic graphitic (graphene) domains, which facilitate both sorption and electron transfer. In this study, we assessed the ability of different types of BC—graphite, activated carbon, and diesel soot—to mediate the reduction of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and 2,4-dibromophenol (DBP) by H₂S. All three types of BC enhanced DNT and DBP reduction. H₂S supported BC-mediated reduction, as was observed previously with a thiol reductant. The results suggest that BC may influence the fate of organic pollutants in reducing subsurface environments through redox transformation in addition to sorption.     

磺胺类抗生素对不同革兰氏阴性菌的毒物兴奋效应研究

抗生素滥用所导致的环境问题日益受到人们的关注,抗生素在环境中常以低剂量的形式暴露,生物体在低浓度的抗生素作用下通常会表现出毒物兴奋效应(hormesis)。因此,研究抗生素的hormesis,对抗生素的生态风险评价极其重要。为了研究抗生素的hormesis,本文选取4种磺胺类抗生素为研究对象,观测了不同浓度培养基下磺胺对大肠杆菌能否产生hormesis。结果表明,磺胺对大肠杆菌在原倍和0.8倍浓度的培养基下不产生hormesis,在0.6和0.4倍浓度的培养基下产生hormesis;并且,结合我们之前对另一种革兰氏阴性菌——费氏弧菌hormesis的研究可知,对于具有不同群体感应系统的2种革兰氏阴性菌,都存在hormesis,磺胺可以通过作用群体感应系统使革兰氏阴性菌产生hormesis,只是hormesis的大小不同。上述研究结果为抗生素的生态风险评价提供了依据,为hormesis的相关研究提供了参考。     

典型环境内分泌干扰物的来源、环境分布和主要环境过程

内分泌干扰物(EDCs)作为一种新兴污染物,具有憎水性、低剂量效应和半衰期长等特征,在全球的土壤/沉积物中已被广泛检测到,并发现已给环境带来了严重的威胁。本文重点综合评述了近10年来土壤/沉积物中EDCs的来源、浓度水平、空间分布及吸附特性的研究。结果发现,EDCs来源涉及农业、工业和生活等多个方面;空间分布上,一般呈近海地区沉积物中EDCs浓度水平较河流底泥及土壤低,而高度工业化、城市化地区土壤/沉积物中EDCs浓度亦较高;EDCs的吸附受土壤/沉积物理化性质、EDCs自身性质和环境条件的共同影响,一般土壤有机质的含量和成熟度、土壤颗粒的比表面积与其吸附能力呈正相关,黏土矿物类型对EDCs的吸附也有重要的影响;EDCs的吸附能力与其自身的疏水性和结构特征有关;温度升高和溶液p H值增加都不利于EDCs的吸附,而溶液离子强度的增加对其吸附起着促进作用。土壤/沉积物对EDCs的吸附是一个复杂的过程,因此对其吸附特性需要进一步的探讨。     

脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇、黄曲霉毒素B_1和玉米赤霉烯酮对秀丽隐杆线虫的联合毒性研究

脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇(DON)、黄曲霉毒素B_1(AFB_1)和玉米赤霉烯酮(ZEN)是最为常见的粮食真菌毒素,易共存于谷物产品和动物饲料中,而目前对其联合毒性的研究较少,且研究结果并不完全一致。为探究DON、AFB_1和ZEN的联合毒性作用,本论文以秀丽隐杆线虫(C.elegans)为模型,分别评估了毒素混合物AFB_1+DON、AFB_1+ZEN、DON+ZEN和AFB_1+DON+ZEN对C.elegans的生长发育(体长)和生殖能力(产卵量)的毒性作用,并用Chou-Talalay模型来判定毒素混合物的相互作用类型。研究表明,AFB_1、DON和ZEN单独染毒C.elegans时,其毒作用强弱为AFB_1ZENDON。联合染毒时,AFB_1+DON对C.elegans产生协同作用,而DON+ZEN则产生拮抗作用;AFB_1+ZEN对体长(24 h)和产卵量的毒作用随着暴露浓度的增加,由弱拮抗变为协同作用,而在毒素暴露48 h后,对线虫的生长发育呈协同作用;AFB_1+DON+ZEN除在EC50-24 h和EC75-24 h时对体长产生明显的毒性增强作用外,其他普遍表现出拮抗作用。由此表明,DON、AFB_1和ZEN对C.elegans的联合毒性作用与剂量和时间相关。     

北京不同污染天气PM_(2.5)和PM_(10)染毒对大鼠生理病理参数的影响

为探讨北京不同污染天气大气可吸入颗粒物PM_(10)和细颗粒物PM_(2.5)污染对雄性大鼠血常规、氧化损伤、炎症反应和肺组织的影响,将64只雄性8周龄Wistar大鼠随机分为8组,分别为2个对照组(空白组和生理盐水组)和6个染毒组(清洁、雾霾及沙尘暴3种不同天气的PM_(10)染毒组和PM_(2.5)染毒组),每组8只。用2015年3月—5月在北京南海子麋鹿苑采集的清洁、雾霾和沙尘暴3种不同天气的PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)制备悬液,分别采用气管滴入PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)悬液作为染毒组,空白对照组不做任何处理,生理盐水对照组采用气管滴注生理盐水。急性染毒24 h后处死大鼠。采集血液测定18个血常规指标,分析肺泡灌洗液(BALF)中转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)、乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)、总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)、白介素-6(IL-6)及肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)的含量,并在高倍显微镜下观察肺组织和气管病理形态变化。同时,对PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)中的水溶性离子、有机碳/元素碳、16种多环芳烃和7种重金属等元素进行了测定,并分析了各组分与大鼠生理病理指标的相关性。结果表明:清洁、沙尘暴天气的PM_(10)和雾霾天气的PM_(2.5)急性染毒导致大鼠白细胞系参数即免疫力显著下降。污染天气颗粒物染毒后大鼠BALF氧化炎症因子的改变表明呼吸系统受到感染:沙尘暴和清洁天的PM_(10)染毒均显著提高了TGF-β1,雾霾PM_(10)染毒后IL-6和LDH有一定程度升高。3种天气颗粒物染毒对肺和气管造成的组织病理伤害各有特点,但PM_(2.5)伤害程度普遍大于PM_(10)。染毒颗粒物粒径大小,其化学成分类别、浓度是造成大鼠血常规指标变化、氧化炎症反应和组织学病变的可能原因。     

Nanosystems for drug delivery of coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 is an antioxidant present in the human body. Coenzyme Q10 has an essential role in various biochemical reactions. The deficiency of coenzyme Q10 in the body leads to disorders including neurological degeneration, ageing and cancer. Clinical trials have tested coenzyme Q10 as a drug or a dietary supplement. However, the major pharmaceutical issue of coenzyme Q10 delivery is its high molecular weight and poor water solubility. This limitation leads to its poor oral bioavailability. Several methods have been designed to overcome the poor water solubility of coenzyme Q10, such as size reduction and ionization. This article presents nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for coenzyme Q10 with special emphasis on pharmacokinetic perspectives and clinical relevance. Systems include nanoparticles, solid dispersions, liposomes, nanoemulsions, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems, nanostructured lipid carriers, cyclodextrins and nanocapsules.