Are low infidelity rates in feral horses due to infanticide?

A growing number of studies conducted on diverse taxa have shown that extra-pair/group paternity is higher than what would be predicted from behavioral observations alone. While it may be beneficial for females to mate with multiple males, this often results in offspring not sired by the behavioral father, which could influence offspring survival, especially in social mammals. Feral horses (Equus caballus) maintain stable social relationships over several years, usually with one stallion defending a harem band of unrelated mares against other males. Sneak copulations by subordinate males have been observed and mares sometimes change bands, both of which can result in foals sired by males other than the dominant band stallion. We measured female fidelity in free-ranging feral horses in 23 bands, with 51 foals over four foaling seasons and tested offspring paternity against parental behaviors. We used 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci and the program CERVUS 2.0 to determine and exclude potential sires. The majority of mares remained in the band with the sire of their foal resulting in most foals being sired by the band stallion. Most foals that were not sired by the band stallion were born in the year after a round-up and we could not determine if they were the result of band changing or sneak copulations. Foals born into a band without their sire had lower survival rates and mothers were significantly more protective of foals not sired by the band stallion. These findings suggest that band stability increases the reproductive success of mares and support the importance of infanticide risk in equid social structure.     

土壤中抗生素的生态毒性及其分子生物标志物技术的研究进展

抗生素作为抑菌或杀菌药物被广泛应用于畜禽养殖中。不能完全被机体吸收的抗生素经由畜禽排泄物直接进入环境。随着耐药基因和超级病菌的出现,抗生素产生的环境问题引起了广泛关注。土壤是环境中抗生素最主要的累积场所之一,对土壤中抗生素的生态毒性及其分子生物指示指标的研究具有重要意义。本文在总结国内外相关研究的基础上,阐述了抗生素对土壤中微生物、动物和植物所产生的毒性以及分子生物标志物在土壤抗生素污染研究中的应用,并对未来的研究工作进行了展望。     

Preparation and characterization of surface modified powder of calcium hydroxide used as chlorine scavenger

In order to avoid existing shortcomings of chlorine leakage treatment, we developed a new chlorine scavenger. The main composition of the chlorine scavenger was calcium hydroxide. The chlorine scavenger was prepared by wet process with water as solvent through adding surface active agent and silicone oil, etc. The influence of surfactant on modified powder was investigated, which included the sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, the sodium stearate, the water-soluble silicone oil, the emulsifying silicon oil and the amino silicone oil, and the effect of modification of judgment were illustrated, which mainly involved the sifting rate, the bulk density, the contact angle, on this basis, also the author analyzed the powder of modification by using SEM analysis and size distribution, The modified powder had the following characteristics: high absorptivity, anti-caking, good air permeability and so on. The results showed that overall performance of modified powder was better than the performance of unmodified powder. The adding amount of sodium stearate was preferably 2% while the optimum amount of emulsifying silicon oil and amino silicone oil was 3%. The comprehensive performance of powder modified with compound modifiers was better than the performance of the powder modified with a single modifier. The property of powder modified with sodium stearate and amino silicone oil had a good performance analyzed from the uniformity of particle size distribution of the powder and anti-caking. The powder modified with sodium stearate and emulsifying silicon oil had a good absorption rate of chlorine.     

赤泥制备光催化剂降解染料废水的研究

以固体废物赤泥为原料,采用酸溶-水热法制备光催化剂,并进行化学成分、紫外-可见漫反射吸收光谱(UV-Vis)等物性测试分析.通过降解甲基橙模拟废水,探讨了制备过程中渣酸比、溶剂、水热反应pH值、水热反应温度等条件对赤泥制光催化剂活性的影响.将最佳条件下制备的光催化剂用于染料废水的处理,结果表明,染料废水COD去除率达到75.23％,出水COD值仅为123.07 mg/L,达到二级排放标准.这为氧化铝厂废渣-赤泥的综合利用提供了一条新思路.     

稳定塔安全阀起跳原因分析及对策

当工艺操作参数波动较大时,尤其是在开工阶段,杨易造成稳定塔安全阀起跳.分析了安全阀起跳的原因,认为主要原因是稳定塔负荷过大及稳定塔塔顶温度过高,提出了相应的预防安全阀起跳的工艺控制措施.     

南亚地震应急反应启示

2005年10月8日当地时间8时50分36．0秒,在巴基斯坦（北纬34．4度,东经73.6度）发生7．8级强烈地震．波及印度,阿富汗、印尼等国。地震给巴基斯坦造成重大经济损失和人员伤亡,约有8．6万人在地震中遇难,10多万人受伤,330万人无家可归。重创后的火区重建需要50亿美元和10年时间。印度官方统计．印控地区死亡约1000多人。     

印度洋地震海啸灾害浅析

地震震级大,震源浅 2004年12川26日发生在印度尼西亚苏门答腊附近海域的地震震级达8．7级,属于特大地震。地震发牛在澳大利亚板块与印度板块两大全球构造板块的交界处。地震区内,印度板块,相对缅甸板块,以6厘米／年速度向西北方向运动,住巽他海槽斜向俯冲收敛。印度板块向缅甸板块下长期俯冲,积累了巨大的应力和能量,突然释放,引起地壳剧烈震动。又由于震源浅(仅10公里),对海水的扰动强烈,从而引发了巨大的海啸。     

Flexible foraging strategies of gentoo penguins <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pygoscelis papua</Emphasis> over 5 years in the South Shetland Islands,Antarctica

Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua show considerable plasticity in their diet, diving, and foraging behaviors among colonies; we expected that they might exhibit similar variability over time, at a single site, since flexible foraging habits would provide a buffer against changes in prey availability. We examined interannual changes in the foraging strategies and diet of gentoo penguins in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, over 5 years with variable prey abundance. Antarctic krill Euphausia superba was the primary diet item, and fish the secondary, though the importance of these items varied among years. Diving behavior also varied over time: different dive depth distributions were observed among years. Nonetheless, chick-rearing success remained relatively constant, indicating that gentoo penguins were able to maintain chick provisioning by altering their foraging strategy among years. Variable abundance of krill in the region did not have observable impacts on the diet, foraging behaviors or chick-rearing success of gentoo penguins. We suggest that foraging plasticity may be one reason that gentoo penguin populations have remained stable in the region, while their congeners (P. antarctica and P. adeliae) with less flexible foraging strategies have declined.     

Pollution extents of organic substances from a coal gangue dump of Jiulong Coal Mine,China

This paper addresses the distribution and occurrence of harmful organic substances in coal gangue dump from Jiulong Coal Mine and its influence on the environment. The samples were taken from the coal gangue dump and coal waste water stream and analyzed by organic geochemical methods. The results indicate that the coal gangues contain abundant harmful organic substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The TOC and sulfur contents of the samples are much higher than those of the background sample except Sample JL7. The contents of organic bulk parameters are relatively high. Ten carcinogenic PAHs were identified and these harmful organic substances have influenced the surrounding area. Along the waste water stream, organic substances pollute at least 1,800 m far from the coal gangue dump.     

Emergy-based urban health evaluation and development pattern analysis

The objective of this study is to measure and evaluate the ecosystem health levels of 31 Chinese capital cities in 2004 through an emergy synthesis framework. A system of indicators was developed corresponding to the four factors of urban ecosystem health including efficiency, structure, impact and flux. Furthermore, combined with individual indices, an emergy-based urban ecosystem health index (EUEHI) was proposed to measure and evaluate the health levels among various typical cities in China, which offers an integrated evaluation tool in view of urban production, trade and consumption. The results showed that there are intrinsic differences among six clusters associated with driving mechanisms distinguishing the rankings of urban health levels. After lining the cities of similar health levels with cluster map, the spatial distribution of the urban health is found to be arch-shaped, increasing initially and then decreasing from coast to inner land. This kind of spatial hierarchy is per se compatible and consistent with the hierarchical theory of emergy synthesis. The results also revealed double restrictions of urban health between economy and environment. Moreover, the interaction analysis was used for mirroring the driving mechanism of urban ecosystem health. Three conclusions were arrived at. Firstly, environmental health is inversely related to the economic health in China, indicating that cities cannot achieve win–win between environment and economy in the current urban development mode. Secondly, based on economy-driven mode, four quadrants were divided in the city division map, wherein 43.33% of the concerned cities developed in high economy-restriction mode, which means low economic level is still an important limiting factor for the major cities of China. Finally, based on environment-driven mode, two sections were divided, of which weak environmental dominance mode expounds the special characteristics of urban environment with obvious fragility. 23.33% of the 30 cities were in the intermediate state, which means a few correspondingly unhealthy cities should develop concrete polices for the urban ecosystem restoration.