Revaluation of the “Chattanooga School Children Study” in the Light of Other Contemporary Governmental Studies: The Possible Impact of These Findings On the Present NO2 Air Quality Standard

Data have been collected to indicate the presence of a number of biologically antagonistic air contaminants in ambient air in the immediate vicinity of Chattanooga, Tenn., as a result of the operation of the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant, Tyner, Tenn. It follows, therefore, from these data that adverse health effects observed in the course of the Chattanooga School Children Study may be accounted for either totally or in part by the presence of epidemiologically interfering compounds such as sulfuric and nitric acid vapors which were not measured in air at the time of the health effects study. It is suggested that the presence of these interferences be considered detrimental to the formulation of a valid air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide.     

Enantiomer fractions of polychlorinated biphenyls in three selected Standard Reference Materials

The enantiomer composition of six chiral polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in three different certified Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): SRM 1946 (Lake Superior fish tissue), SRM 1939a (PCB Congeners in Hudson River Sediment), and SRM 2978 (organic contaminants in mussel tissue--Raritan Bay, New Jersey) to aid in quality assurance/quality control methodologies in the study of chiral pollutants in sediments and biota. Enantiomer fractions (EFs) of PCBs 91, 95, 136, 149, 174, and 183 were measured using a suite of chiral columns by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Concentrations of target analytes were in agreement with certified values. Target analyte EFs in reference materials were measured precisely (<2% relative standard deviation), indicating the utility of SRM in quality assurance/control methodologies for analyses of chiral compounds in environmental samples. Measured EFs were also in agreement with previously published analyses of similar samples, indicating that similar enantioselective processes were taking place in these environmental matrices.     

Current shifts and kin aggregation explain genetic patchiness in fish recruits

The scales of population structure in marine species depend on the degree to which larvae from different populations are mixed in the plankton. There is an intriguing trend in marine population genetic studies of significant genetic structure for larvae, recruits, or populations at fine scales that is unpatterned across space and changes through time. This "chaotic genetic patchiness" suggests that larval pools are not well mixed in the plankton. However, few studies have been able to distinguish among potential causes of spatial and temporal genetic heterogeneity: changes in larval migration patterns, changes in environmental selection, or stochasticity caused by "sweepstakes" reproductive success of spawners creating detectable family structure. Here we use microsatellite markers to show that significant allele frequency shifts occurred sporadically in space and time for cohorts of recruits of Paralabrax clathratus (kelp bass) collected once every two weeks over two years from five sites in the Santa Barbara Channel, California, USA. We found that the pattern of genetic differentiation among cohorts was explained by a combination of (1) family structure in some cohorts, evidenced by half and full siblings, and (2) an indication of changes in larval delivery. It is unlikely but possible that environmental selection also plays a role. Although sampling of potential source populations was incomplete, cohorts arriving during western current flows show most genetic similarity with a population sample collected in the west, and cohorts arriving during current flows from the southeast show similarity with population samples collected in the south and east. Despite the family structure apparent in some cohorts, these "sweepstakes" events occur on too fine a scale to create lasting year class genetic structure. The results corroborate oceanographic models of larval dispersal, which suggest that larval mixing in the plankton is less extensive than previously believed.     

Photoinhibition of Symbiodinium spp. within the reef corals Montastraea faveolata and Porites astreoides: implications for coral bleaching

It is speculated that differences in coral bleaching susceptibility may be influenced by the genotype of in hospite Symbiodinium and their differential responses to bleaching stressors. Photoinhibition of photosystem II (PSII), damage to the D1 (psbA) PSII reaction centre protein and production of reactive oxygen species by in hospite Symbiodinium are likely precursors of coral bleaching. In order to assess whether photorepair rates of in hospite Symbiodinium underlie the bleaching susceptibility of their hosts, photoinhibition (net and gross), photoprotection and photorepair rates were assessed in a bleaching-‘tolerant’ coral (P. astreoides) and a bleaching-‘sensitive’ coral (M. faveolata) using non-invasive fluorometric techniques and by blocking de novo synthesis of psbA. Previous studies using such techniques have demonstrated that in vitro Symbiodinium types ‘sensitive’ to bleaching stressors had reduced rates of photorepair relative to ‘tolerant’ Symbiodinum types. Our measurements demonstrated that Symbiodinium in the more bleaching tolerant P. astreoides had higher photorepair rates than Symbiodinium in M. faveolata. Higher repair rates in P. astreoides resulted in lower net photoinhibition relative to M. faveolata, where both corals exhibited similar susceptibility to photodamage (gross photoinhibition). Photoprotective mechanisms were observed in both corals; M. faveolata exhibited higher antennae-bed quenching than P. astreoides at low-light intensities, but at and above light-saturating intensities, which are different for each coral species, P. astreoides displayed more efficient non-photochemical quenching (Stern–Volmer quenching) of chlorophyll fluorescence than M. faveolata. Increased NPQ by P. astreoides at E/E _k ≥ 1 was not driven by antennae-bed quenching. The ability of in hospite Symbiodinium in P. astreoides to mitigate the effects of photoinhibition under high light conditions compared with Symbiodinium in M. faveolata, and their high repair capacity following photoinhibition, may be a key factor to consider in future bleaching studies and may underlie the relative bleaching tolerance of P. astreoides compared to M. faveolata.     

Factors affecting the evacuation decisions of coastal households during Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh

Despite sincere efforts by concerned agencies and recent improvements in hazard warnings, thousands of at-risk people did not evacuate during Aila, a category-I tropical cyclone that struck southwestern coastal Bangladesh in 2009. This study investigated the responses of the people affected by Aila to cyclone warnings and associated evacuation orders, and unveiled behavioural aspects that explain why they did or did not comply with the evacuation orders. Utilising the primary data collected from 420 households living in the severely affected coastal sub-district Koyra, located in Khulna District, this study found that although more than 97% of the households had received cyclone warnings and evacuation orders before Aila's landfall, only around 26% had evacuated. We also examined this study's empirical findings for factors that had dissuaded people from complying with the evacuation orders. Relevant test statistics along with results from principal component analysis suggested that the significant and systematic absenteeism of households from disaster preparedness training appears to be one of the key determinants that affected their evacuation decisions, along with factors related to warning messages, the attributes of cyclone shelters, risk perception, and socioeconomic aspects. A number of recommendations are also presented in this study for people at risk to improve their evacuation rates in future emergencies, not only to save their own lives but also to save their livestock.     

中国近岸海洋和海岛环境中抗生素抗性基因的研究进展

抗生素在不同领域被大量使用甚至滥用,未被利用的抗生素会经过不同途径进入环境,导致抗生素抗性菌（antibiotic-resistant bacteria,ARBs）和抗生素抗性基因（antibiotic resistant genes,ARGs）广泛传播。ARGs作为新型环境污染物被广泛关注,成为全球性的环境问题。本文综述了中国近岸海洋与海岛环境中ARGs的赋存状况,分析了ARGs在海岛环境与近岸海洋环境中的赋存特征差异,并对海岛(海南岛)ARGs的研究提出建议。     

Expression of multiple forms of an adhesive plaque protein in an individual mussel, Mytilus edulis

Individual blue mussels, Mytilus edulis L., can express at least 20 variants of a small protein known as M. edulis foot protein 3 or Mefp3. Mefp3 has been shown to be a component of the adhesive plaque of the byssus, the structure securing mussels to solid substrata. The cDNAs and deduced fp3 protein sequences display more variation at the carboxy-terminus than at the N-terminus, although there is some variation present throughout the protein. This indicates that there most likely are multiple copies of the gene encoding this protein. Each protein sequence contains a signal peptide, 24 to 25 residues in length, and a mature protein sequence of 44 to 54 residues. Gly is the most common amino acid in the mature protein at 20 to 25 mol%. Tyr and Arg follow closely at 20 to 23 and 16 to 21 mol%, respectively. Both of these amino acids were previously shown to be post-translationally modified to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Dopa) and 4-hydroxyarginine, respectively, in this protein. MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization with time-of-flight) mass spectrometric analysis of the underside of adhesive plaques reveals the presence of Mefp3-like proteins. Curiously, only four or five out of 20 possible fp3 variants are detectable in plaques deposited on glass or plastic. This would suggest that selection of protein variants for deposition onto surfaces is determined at the level of translation. Received: 11 August 1998 / Accepted: 15 April 1999     

Periodic Migration and Lowland Forest Refugia in a "Sedentary" Neotropical Bird, Wetmore's Bush-Tanager

Although the concept of tropical birds as sedentary is pervasive, evidence suggests many are not. Our grasp of movement status in tropical birds is decidedly poor, but the successful long-term conservation of these birds depends on such information. Sedentariness will likely doom much tropical avian diversity, but increased vagility is a two-edged sword: beneficial in promoting immigration, but detrimental in that more than one habitat may be required. Birds requiring more than one habitat may be unable to locate a particular type as landscape modifications increase. Our long-term data set from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz, México, reveals infrequent, large-scale movements in a local highland endemic. Wetmore's Bush-Tanager ( Chlorospingus ophthalmicus wetmorei) seems occasionally dependent upon lowland forests (now greatly diminished) as a refugium from temporarily unsuitable highlands. Our data and observations lead us to three conclusions: 1) assumptions of sedentariness in tropical birds should be made with extreme caution; 2) normal, but periodic phenomena may be easily overlooked, even in relatively long-term studies; and 3) missing such phenomena jeopardizes the success of any conservation plan because over the long term a population may be dependent upon refugia only occasionally occupied.