Microbial metabolism of N-Phenyl-1-naphthylamine in soil, soil suspensions, and aquatic ecosystems

N-Phenyl-1-naphthylamine (PNA) was degraded and mineralized in nonsterile aquatic and terrestrial samples. Degradation in unsupplemented sewage and lake water was detected in 3 to 6 days with half-lives of 5 and 10 days, respectively. In sewage and lake water supplemented with a readily degradable carbon source, degradation began in 1 and 5 days with half-lives of 2 and 8 days, respectively. Sewage samples converted between 20 and 30% of labeled [¹⁴C]-PNA to ¹⁴CO₂ in 35 days while lake water samples reached 10% conversion to ¹⁴CO₂ in 12 days. Soil samples and soil suspensions converted from 15 to 35% of [¹⁴C]-PnA to ¹⁴CO₂ in 11 days. PNA was microbiologically converted in lake water to two products that were tentatively identified by gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy as dihydroxy and N-acetyl derivatives.     

Antimicrobial activity of Red Sea corals

Scleractinian corals and alcyonacean soft corals are the two most dominant groups of benthic marine organisms inhabiting the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat, northern Red Sea. Antimicrobial assays performed with extracts of six dominant Red Sea stony corals and six dominant soft corals against marine bacteria isolated from the seawater surrounding the corals revealed considerable variability in antimicrobial activity. The results demonstrated that, while the majority (83%) of Red Sea alcyonacean soft corals exhibited appreciable antimicrobial activity against marine bacteria isolated from the seawater surrounding the corals, the stony corals had little or no antimicrobial activity. From the active soft coral species examined, Xenia macrospiculata exhibited the highest and most potent antimicrobial activity. Bioassay-directed fractionation indicated that the antimicrobial activity was due to the presence of a range of compounds of different polarities. One of these antibiotic compounds was isolated and identified as desoxyhavannahine, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 48 μg ml⁻¹ against a marine bacterium. The results of the current study suggest that soft and hard corals have developed different means to combat potential microbial infections. Alcyonacean soft corals use chemical defense through the production of antibiotic compounds to combat microbial attack, whereas stony corals seem to rely on other means.     

A novel Vibrio sp. pathogen of the coral Pocillopora damicornis

A coral pathogen was isolated from the diseased tissue of Pocillopora damicornis in Zanzibar. The pathogenic bacterium, referred to as Vibrio coralyticus YB, was classified as a member of the genus Vibrio. Based on its 16S rDNA sequence, V. coralyticus is probably a new species. In controlled aquaria experiments at 26-29°C, inoculation of pure cultures of V. coralyticus YB either into the seawater or by direct contact onto the coral caused tissue lysis of P. damicornis fragments. At 29°C, lysis began as small white spots after 3-5 days, rapidly spreading so that by 2 weeks the entire tissue was destroyed, leaving only the intact bare skeleton. When an infected diseased coral was placed in direct contact with a healthy one, the healthy coral lysed in 2-4 days, further indicating that the disease was contagious. Inoculation with as few as 30 bacteria ml^-1 was sufficient to infect and lyse corals. Seawater temperature was a critical variable for the infectious process: infection and lysis occurred rapidly at 27-29°C, slowly at 26°C and was not observed at 25°C. The data suggest that the presence of V. coralyticus YB, even in low numbers, in seawater surrounding a coral reef will lead to tissue destruction of P. damicornis, when seawater temperatures rise.     

Nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae associated with the siphonous green seaweed Codium decorticatum: effects on ammonium uptake

Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) at rates of up to 1.2 g N₂ g dry wt^-1 h^-1 was measured for the siphonous green seaweed Codium decorticatum. No nitrogenase activity was detected in C. isthmocladum. The nitrogenase activity was light sensitive and was inhibited by the addition of DCMU and triphenyl tetrazolium chloride. Additions of glucose did not stimulate nitrogen fixation. Blue-green algae (Calothrix sp., Anabaena sp., and Phormidium sp.) were implicated as the organisms responsible for the nitrogenase activity. They occurred in a reduced microzone within the C. decorticatum thallus where nitrogen fixation was optimized. Nitrogen fixation did not affect the kinetic constants for ammonium uptake in C. decorticatum (K_s=12.0 M, V_max=13.4 mol NH₃ g dry wt^-1 h^-1) determined using the perturbation method. Nevertheless, C. decorticatum thalli which fixed nitrogen had internal dissolved nitrogen concentrations which were over 1.4 times higher than in non-fixing thalli. This suggests that if C. decorticatum does derive part of its nitrogen requirement from the blue-green algae which it harbors, the transfer does not involve competition between this process and the uptake of ambient ammonium.     

Exposure to airborne isocyanates and other thermal degradation products at polyurethane-processing workplaces

The thermal degradation products of polyurethanes (PURs) and exposure to isocyanates were studied by stationary and personal measurements in five different occupational environments. Isocyanates were collected on glass fibre filters impregnated with 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine (2MP) and in impingers containing n-dibutylamine (DBA) in toluene. connected to a glass fibre postfilter. The derivatives formed were analysed by liquid chromatography: 2MP derivatives with UV and electrochemical detection and DBA derivatives with mass spectrometric detection. The release of aldehydes and other volatile organic compounds into the air was also studied. In a comparison of the two sampling methods, the 2MP method yielded about 20% lower concentrations for 4,4'-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) than did the DBA method. In car repair shops, the median concentration of diisocyanates (given as NCO groups) in the breathing zone was 1.1 microg NCO m(-3) during grinding and 0.3 microg NCO m(-3) during welding, with highest concentrations of 1.7 and 16 pg NCO m(-3), respectively. High concentrations of MDI, up to 25 and 19 microg NCO m(-3), respectively, were also measured in the breathing zone during welding of district heating pipes and turning of a PUR-coated metal cylinder. During installation of PUR-coated floor covering, small amounts of aliphatic diisocyanates were detected in the air. A small-molecular monoisocyanate, methyl isocyanate, and isocyanic acid were detected only during welding and turning operations. The diisocyanate concentrations were in general higher near the emission source than in the workers' breathing zone. A sampling strategy to evaluate the risk of exposure to isocyanates is presented.     

智能视频分析系统VMD的选择

现如今，当我们购买一台DVR的时候，视频移动探测（VMD）已经成为一种普遍具有的功能。几乎所有的DVR都能够进行移动探测的基本设置。这一VMD功能的目的是降低存储空间，对于错误报警的多少没有过多在意。     

Use of stochastic patch occupancy models in the California red-legged frog for Bayesian inference regarding past events and future persistence

Assessing causes of population decline is critically important to management of threatened species. Stochastic patch occupancy models (SPOMs) are popular tools for examining spatial and temporal dynamics of populations when presence–absence data in multiple habitat patches are available. We developed a Bayesian Markov chain method that extends existing SPOMs by focusing on past environmental changes that may have altered occupancy patterns prior to the beginning of data collection. Using occupancy data from 3 creeks, we applied the method to assess 2 hypothesized causes of population decline—in situ die-off and residual impact of past source population loss—in the California red-legged frog. Despite having no data for the 20–30 years between the hypothetical event leading to population decline and the first data collected, we were able to discriminate among hypotheses, finding evidence that in situ die-off increased in 2 of the creeks. Although the creeks had comparable numbers of occupied segments, owing to different extinction–colonization dynamics, our model predicted an 8-fold difference in persistence probabilities of their populations to 2030. Adding a source population led to a greater predicted persistence probability than did decreasing the in situ die-off, emphasizing that reversing the deleterious impacts of a disturbance may not be the most efficient management strategy. We expect our method will be useful for studying dynamics and evaluating management strategies of many species.     

Bias from two analytical laboratories involved in a long-term air monitoring program measuring organic pollutants in the Arctic: a quality assurance/quality control assessment

Initiated in 1992, air monitoring of organic pollutants in the Canadian Arctic provided spatial and temporal trends in support of Canada's participation in the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants. The specific analytical laboratory charged with this task was changed in 2002 while field sampling protocols remained unchanged. Three rounds of intensive comparison studies were conducted in 2004, 2005, and 2008 to assess data comparability between the two laboratories. Analysis was compared for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in standards, blind samples of mixed standards and extracts of real air samples. Good measurement accuracy was achieved for both laboratories when standards were analyzed. Variation of measurement accuracy over time was found for some OCPs and PCBs in standards on a random and non-systematic manner. Relatively low accuracy in analyzing blind samples was likely related to the process of sample purification. Inter-laboratory measurement differences for standards (<30%) and samples (<70%) were generally less than or comparable to those reported in a previous inter-laboratory study with 21 participating laboratories. Regression analysis showed inconsistent data comparability between the two laboratories during the initial stages of the study. These inter-laboratory differences can complicate abilities to discern long-term trends of pollutants in a given sampling site. It is advisable to maintain long-term measurements with minimal changes in sample analysis.