The scent of sun worship: basking experience alters scent mark composition in male lizards

Signals used in female choice should honestly advertise the benefits that males can provide, with direct benefits often argued as being more important than indirect benefits. However, the nature of direct benefits in species without paternal care or nuptial gifts is poorly understood. Previous studies on lizards suggest that females decide where to settle and assumedly who to mate with based on information contained in scent marks from territorial males. Access to high-quality thermal resources is crucial for female reproductive success. Females may therefore be able to detect and exploit thermal-induced variation in the chemical composition of male scent marks when assessing the quality of his territory. We show that the amount of time male wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) are allowed to bask significantly alters the chemical composition of their femoral secretions used in scent marking. The direction of the change is consistent with adaptive plasticity to maintain signalling efficacy under warm conditions that increase evaporation of femoral secretions. The compounds affected by basking experience included those previously associated with male quality or shown to mediate male–male competition in lizards. However, whilst female lizards could discriminate between scent marks of males that had experienced different basking conditions, they did not preferentially associate with the scent from males from high-quality thermal conditions. These results highlight the potential importance of a previously neglected environmental effect on chemical signalling. We suggest thermal effects may have significant consequences for scent-mark composition in variable environments, with potential repercussions on olfactory communication in lizards.     

Raw single-walled carbon nanotube-induced cytotoxic effects in human bronchial epithelial cells: comparison to asbestos

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are being developed to be used in many industrial and biomedical applications. However, SWCNT's durability and likely fibrous morphology have raised health concerns. The present investigations were focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms induced by raw SWCNT (SWCNT) in human bronchial-epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Asbestos (crocidolite) was used as a positive control. Exposure of BEAS-2B cells to SWCNT induced apoptosis, DNA damage, and oxidative stress. The generation of hydroxyl radical (^?OH) and increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were concentration-dependent. The increase in apoptosis was associated with activation of caspase-3, caspase-7, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). A short recovery period of 6?h of cells from SWCNT exposure resulted in reversal of caspase-3 and caspase-7, and a partial reversal of PARP-1 activation. The activation of PARP-1, caspase-3, and caspase-7 was only partially diminished after a recovery of 6?h from the exposure to crocidolite. Exposure of BEAS-2B cells to SWCNT resulted in the phosphorylation of protein p42/44 (p42/44) and protein p38 (p38). SWCNT did not induce protein serine-threonine kinase (AKT) phosphorylation. For all the above end points, crocidolite induced a greater response compared to SWCNT. SWCNT induced a significant activation of activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), and the effect was inhibited by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors. SWCNT also induced significant increase in the expression levels of c-Jun, βIGH3, and CD44 genes. The results of this study show that the molecular mechanism for raw SWCNT-mediated toxicity in BEAS-2B cells is through the activation of caspase-3, caspase-7, and PARP-1. Furthermore, the mechanism of AP-1 and NF-κB activation is through MAPK. This bioactivity of raw SWCNT is associated with the generation of oxidative stress and DNA damage. Considering the role of airway epithelium as a critical barrier for normal pulmonary function and focal point for tumor development, this study demonstrates that raw SWCNT activate molecular events which may be linked to adverse biological responses implicated in pulmonary diseases.     

Assessment of the Nested Grid Model Estimates for Driving Regional Visibility Models in the Southwestern United States

ABSTRACT

The Nested Grid Model (NGM) is a primitive-equation meteorological model that is routinely exercised over North America for forecasting purposes by the National Meteorological Center. While prognostic meteorological models are being increasingly used to drive air quality models, their use in conducting annual simulations requires significant resources. NGM estimates of wind fields and other meteorological variables provide an attractive alternative since they are typically archived and readily available for an entire year. Preliminary evaluation of NGM winds during the summer of 1992 for application to the region surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park showed serious shortcomings. The NGM winds along the borders between California, Arizona and Mexico tend to be northwesterly with a speed of about 6 m/sec, while the observed flow is predominantly southerly at about 2-5 m/sec. The mesoscale effect of a thermal low pressure area over the highly heated Southern California and western Arizona deserts does not appear to be represented by the NGM because of its coarse resolution and the use of sparse observations in that region. Tracer simulations and statistical evaluation against special high resolution observations of winds in the southwest United States clearly demonstrate the northwest bias in NGM winds and its adverse effect on predictions of an air quality model. The “enhanced” NGM winds, in which selected wind observations are incorporated in the NGM winds using a diagnostic meteorological model provide additional confirmation on the primary cause of the northwest bias. This study has demonstrated that in situations where limited resources prevent the use of prognostic meteorological models, previously archived coarse resolution wind fields in which additional observations are incorporated to correct known biases provide an attractive option.     

Applying artificial neural network methodology to ocean color remote sensing

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are widely used as continuous models to fit non-linear transfer functions. In this study we used ANN to retrieve chlorophyll pigments in the near-surface of oceans from Ocean Color measurements. This bio-optical inversion is established by analyzing concomitant sun-light spectral reflectances over the ocean surface and pigment concentration. The relationships are complex, non-linear, and their biological nature implies a significant variability. Moreover, the sun-light reflectances are usually measured by satellite radiometers flying at 800 km over the ocean surface, which affect the data by adding radiometric noise and atmospheric correction errors. By comparison with the polynomial fit usually employed to treat this problem, we show the advantages of neural function approximation like the association of non-linear complexity and noise filtering.     

ESTIMATION OF LONG-TERM DISCHARGE STATISTICS BY REGIONAL ADJUSTMENT1

ABSTRACT: A regional adjustment relationship was developed to estimate long-term (30-year) monthly median discharges from short term (three-year) records. This method differs from traditional approaches in that it is based on site-specific discharge data but does not require correlation of these data with discharges from a single hydrologically similar long-term gage. The method is shown to be statistically robust, and applicable to statistics other than the median.     

Tagging Diesel and Residential Oil Furnace Emissions in Roanoke,Virginia, with Enriched Isotopes of Samarium

Stable isotopic tracers were used in Roanoke, Virginia, to tag particulate emissions from diesel trucks and residential oil furnaces, two sources of soot and PAHs which cannot be differentiated on the basis of known constituents. Approximately 1.6 g of enriched ¹⁴⁹Sm were used to tag 264 m³ of diesel fuel burned by the city bus and truck fleets; 0.39 g of ¹⁵⁰Sm were used to tag 106 m³ of residential heating oil. Picogram amounts of the tracers were determined simultaneously by thermal-ionization mass spectrometry in fine particles collected within the city at signal-to-noise ratios as large as 6000. These results demonstrate the feasibility of tracing particles from multiple combustion sources with stable, separated isotopes.     

Factors influencing incidental representation of previously unknown conservation features in marine protected areas

Spatially explicit information on species distributions for conservation planning is invariably incomplete; therefore, the use of surrogates is required to represent broad‐scale patterns of biodiversity. Despite significant interest in the effectiveness of surrogates for predicting spatial distributions of biodiversity, few researchers have explored questions involving the ability of surrogates to incidentally represent unknown features of conservation interest. We used the Great Barrier Reef marine reserve network to examine factors affecting incidental representation of conservation features that were unknown at the time the reserve network was established. We used spatially explicit information on the distribution of 39 seabed habitats and biological assemblages and the conservation planning software Marxan to examine how incidental representation was affected by the spatial characteristics of the features; the conservation objectives (the minimum proportion of each feature included in no‐take areas); the spatial configuration of no‐take areas; and the opportunity cost of conservation. Cost was closely and inversely correlated to incidental representation. However, incidental representation was achieved, even in a region with only coarse‐scale environmental data, by adopting a precautionary approach that explicitly considered the potential for unknown features. Our results indicate that incidental representation is enhanced by partitioning selection units along biophysical gradients to account for unknown within‐feature variability and ensuring that no‐take areas are well distributed throughout the region; by setting high conservation objectives that (in this case >33%) maximize the chances of capturing unknown features incidentally; and by carefully considering the designation of cost to planning units when using decision‐support tools for reserve design. The lessons learned from incidental representation in the Great Barrier Reef have implications for conservation planning in other regions, particularly those that lack detailed environmental and ecological data.     

A Field Demonstration of the UV/Oxidation Technology to Treat Ground Water Contaminated with VOCs

This paper presents the Geld evaluation results of the ultraviolet radiation (UV)/oxidation technology developed by Ultrox International, Santa Ana, California. The Geld evaluation was performed at the Lorentz Barrel and Drum (LB&D) site in San Jose, California, under the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation program in February and March of 1989.

The UV/oxidation technology uses UV radiation, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide to oxidize organic contaminants present in water. At the LB&D site, this technology was evaluated in treating ground water contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Ultrox system achieved VOC removals greater than 90 percent. Most VOCs were removed through chemical oxidation. However, for a few VOCs, such as 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane and 1, 1-dichloroethane, stripping also contributed toward removal. The treated ground water met the applicable discharge standards for discharge into a local waterway at 95 percent confidence level. There were no harmful air emissions to the atmosphere from the Ultrox system, which is equipped with an off-gas treatment unit.