使用Xevo TQ-S和APGC(大气压气相色谱)大幅降低二噁英分析中的样品残留

当有机化合物在含有氯的环境下燃烧时,会产生二噁英和呋喃,例如聚氯乙烯(PVC)生产、纸张漂白过程,以及火山爆发等自然原因.二噁英是剧毒物质,并且具有亲脂性,很容易在多种动物体内积累.它们还是潜在的诱变剂和致癌物质.2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并二噁英(TCDD)结构如下:Xevo TQ-S和大气压气相色谱(APGC)组成了一个非常灵敏的检测系统,可以准确测定出限制浓度的二噁英和呋喃.在分析未知浓度的样品时,可能会检测到浓度非常高的化合物.因此,目标化合物的存在会对下一次进样造成样品残留,进而导致定量结果有误.     

The effectiveness of surrogate taxa to conserve freshwater biodiversity

Establishing protected areas has long been an effective conservation strategy and is often based on readily surveyed species. The potential of any freshwater taxa to be a surrogate for other aquatic groups has not been explored fully. We compiled occurrence data on 72 species of freshwater fishes, amphibians, mussels, and aquatic reptiles for the Great Plains, Wyoming (U.S.A.). We used hierarchical Bayesian multispecies mixture models and MaxEnt models to describe species’ distributions and the program Zonation to identify areas of conservation priority for each aquatic group. The landscape‐scale factors that best characterized aquatic species’ distributions differed among groups. There was low agreement and congruence among taxa‐specific conservation priorities (<20%), meaning no surrogate priority areas would include or protect the best habitats of other aquatic taxa. Common, wideranging aquatic species were included in taxa‐specific priority areas, but rare freshwater species were not included. Thus, the development of conservation priorities based on a single freshwater aquatic group would not protect all species in the other aquatic groups.     

Plants control the seasonal dynamics of microbial N cycling in a beech forest soil by belowground C allocation

Soil microbes in temperate forest ecosystems are able to cycle several hundreds of kilograms of N per hectare per year and are therefore of paramount importance for N retention. Belowground C allocation by trees is an important driver of seasonal microbial dynamics and may thus directly affect N transformation processes over the course of the year. Our study aimed at unraveling plant controls on soil N cycling in a temperate beech forest at a high temporal resolution over a time period of two years, by investigating the effects of tree girdling on microbial N turnover. In both years of the experiment, we discovered (1) a summer N mineralization phase (between July and August) and (2) a winter N immobilization phase (November-February). The summer mineralization phase was characterized by a high N mineralization activity, low microbial N uptake, and a subsequent high N availability in the soil. During the autumn/winter N immobilization phase, gross N mineralization rates were low, and microbial N uptake exceeded microbial N mineralization, which led to high levels of N in the microbial biomass and low N availability in the soil. The observed immobilization phase during the winter may play a crucial role for ecosystem functioning, since it could protect dissolved N that is produced by autumn litter degradation from being lost from the ecosystem during the phase when plants are mostly inactive. The difference between microbial biomass N levels in winter and spring equals 38 kg N/ha and may thus account for almost one-third of the annual plant N demand. Tree girdling strongly affected annual N cycling: the winter N immobilization phase disappeared in girdled plots (microbial N uptake and microbial biomass N were significantly reduced, while the amount of available N in the soil solution was enhanced). This was correlated to a reduced fungal abundance in autumn in girdled plots. By releasing recently fixed photosynthates to the soil, plants may thus actively control the annual microbial N cycle. Tree belowground C allocation increases N accumulation in microorganisms during the winter which may ultimately feed back on plant N availability in the following growing season.     

Alloimmune responses between Acropora hemprichi conspecifics: nontransitive patterns of overgrowth and delayed cytotoxicity

Allogeneic interactions between Acropora hemprichi (Ehrenberg) colonies were followed in situ up to 18 mo between 1990 and 1992 in Eilat, Red Sea. We established all 21 possible branch pair combinations among seven large colonies in three to eight replicates each (n=92 pairs), in addition in 14 pairs of grafts within-colonies. All isografts resulted in fusion. Allogeneic interactions revealed a variety of effector mechanisms which involved the appearance of dark blue-purple color in the tissues of interacting branch tips (<1 cm), unilateral overgrowths (1.0 to 1.5 mm mo^-1 for 1 to 8 mo), rejections, healings, continuous overgrowths, reversals, repeated rejections and more. Direction of overgrowth was usually specific to a given combination of colonies. A hierarchial network of overgrowths was obtained by analyzing overgrowth directions of all pairwise combinations, which included 30 transitive and five nontransitive three-way combinations. These outcomes, similarly to responses of allogeneic encounters recorded from other coral species, show that colonies can respond selectively to different types of allogeneic challenges. It is suggested that corals may have the capacity to distinguish self from nonself by recognizing nonself attributes presented on conspecifics.     

Bewertung der Umweltgefährlichkeit von Stoffen

By sending a questionnaire to all companies of the pulp and paper, textile finishing and leather industries in Germany a study ascertained wastewater data concerning the general situation, treatment processes and specific amounts. With these data standard figures used in the EU for the assessment of chemical substances were checked. The volume flows of the industrial sewage treatment were determined for the facilities of all three branches which discharge their wastewater directly to the receiving waters. The 10 percentile score of these facilities amounted to only a quarter of the EU standard figure of 2,000 m³/d. This value is related to a standardised waste water treatment plant within the EU, which treated the wastewater of 200 l/d from 10,000 inhabitants. The analyses of the entire branch in each case yield dilution factors of 20–70% of the EU standard value of 10. Only the full tanning leather companies yielded a dilution factor of 10. The volume flows of the sewage treatment plants of the facilities discharging to the sewer system exceeds 2,000 m³/d in call cases.     

Sulphonated aromatic pollutants

Many synthetic sulphonated aromatic compounds are used as starting material to produce dyes and pigments, or are released as by-products in the effluents of the textile and dye industry. A large number of these chemicals are poorly biodegradable and cannot be eliminated by classical wastewater treatment plants. To limit the impact of these pollutants on the environment, new processes, based on the use of higher plants (constructed wetlands or hydroponic systems), are under development. Detergents and surfactants are essential for both industrial and domestic applications, the most important family being the alkylbenzene sulphonates. Originally, the alkyl side chains were branched and thus recalcitrant to biodegradation. Therefore, they have been replaced by linear alkylbenzene sulphonates. Although more acceptable, present formulations still have adverse environmental and toxic effects. In this context, phytoremediation appears to be a promising approach to remove these compounds from contaminated soils and waters.