The distance between state and rural society in the PRC. Reading document no 1 (February 2004)

While the People's Republic of China appears on a daily basis in all of the important newspapers around the world with its enormous successes in modernizing its economy, life in the Chinese countryside usually does not attract international attention. However, we know from a wide range of reports that the situation in the Chinese countryside is getting more and more complicated with local corruption, pollution and poverty growing in most parts of the country. The Chinese language press reports on a growing number of local uprisings in remote areas. While some analysts regard the situation in the countryside as a potential threat to the ongoing peaceful process of economic reform in China, China seems to be well prepared to cope with this change and the state is comparatively flexible in dealing with unrest among the rural population. So far the system itself has not been challenged by peasant discontent. This article introduces the idea that the distance between state and rural society is the basis of this flexibility. It will analyze a major policy document issued by the state and party leadership in order to show how state and rural society interact on the basis of a still insurmountable distance between state and rural society.     

Temporal trend (1988-2008) of hexabromocyclododecane enantiomers in herring gull eggs from the German coastal region

Levels of α-, β-, and γ-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) were determined in pooled eggs from herring gulls (Larus argentatus) sampled on three bird sanctuaries near the German North Sea coast between 1988 and 2008 (Mellum and Trischen) and the German Baltic Sea coast between 1998 and 2008 (Heuwiese) and archived by the German Environmental Specimen Bank. Pressurized fluid extraction, gel permeation chromatography, and LC-MS/MS using ¹³C₁₂-labelled isotope standards and a chiral column were applied. α-HBCD was the dominating diastereomer and ranged between 3.7 and 107 ng g⁻¹ lw while β- and γ-HBCD were throughout close to LOQ. The highest α-HBCD concentration was found in eggs from Mellum sampled in the year 2000. Interestingly, HBCD in eggs from the three islands displayed similar time courses with levels increasing to a peak contamination around 2000 and decreasing levels ever since. Chiral signatures of α-HBCD in eggs differed among the islands but indicated a preferential enrichment of the first eluting enantiomer (−)-α-HBCD.     

Bark salicylates and condensed tannins reduce vole browsing amongst cultivated dark-leaved willows (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salix myrsinifolia</Emphasis>)

Summary. Vole feeding amongst herbal willows that have a high concentration of salicylates in their bark and leaves, and may therefore be cultivated for use as raw material for herbal medicine was tested in the field and in laboratory conditions. Eight clones of dark-leaved willow (Salix myrsinifolia Salisb.) were cultivated for two years with six different methods combining three fertilisation levels (none, low and high), black plastic mulch applied for suppressing weed competition and unmulched control. Samples for the laboratory feeding trial were taken from the unfertilised plants during willow winter dormancy and twigs were fed to 16 voles as a multi-choice experiment. The bark area removed was calculated from image analysis of the material left by the voles. The diameter and the bark thickness of the twigs were measured. Concentrations of salicin, salicortin, HCH-salicortin, picein, triandrin, triandrin derivative, gallocatechin, (+)-catechin, luteolin-7-glucoside, hyperin, total condensed tannins and total nitrogen were measured from the twigs fed to voles in the laboratory. Browsing by a natural population of voles amongst winter-dormant willows was measured in the field. In the laboratory, voles browsed on 80% of the twigs and in the field voles browsed on 33% of the twigs. Vole feeding followed similar patterns in the field and in the laboratory experiment; feeding was clearly higher amongst the plants grown in unmulched control compared to those in plastic mulch. The same clones, 1, 2 and 6 were preferred in both experiments. Voles preferred thin twigs to thick ones. Feeding correlated negatively with concentrations of salicylates and tannins. As vole feeding seems to be highly affected by willow cultivation method and plant genotype, careful selection of cultivated clones and cultivation methods can enhance the reliability of herbal willow cultivation.     

Occurrence of residues of the veterinary drug malachite green in eels caught downstream from municipal sewage treatment plants

Residues of malachite green (MG), a veterinary drug illegally used for the treatment of aquacultured fish, have been found in wild eels caught from surface waters downstream from the sewers of different municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). MG and its metabolite leucomalachite green (LMG) were detected with total concentrations up to 0.765 microg kg(-1) fresh weight in the tissues of 25 out of 45 eels caught from different lakes, a river and a canal in Berlin, Germany. In all cases, the occurrence of the residues could directly be linked to the presence of discharges by municipal STPs into the receiving surface waters. MG is a multiple-use compound that is also used to color materials. Thus, it appears to be reasonable that the residues of MG found in the eel samples originate from such uses, e.g. by wash off from clothes or paper towels colored with MG. Additional loads from legal uses of MG as veterinary drug for the treatment of ornamental fish (private aquaria) are possible. The results obtained from this study are the first proof of background contaminations of a veterinary drug found in samples of fish not intentionally treated with such agents. MG and LMG are regarded as potential genotoxic carcinogens making it impossible to establish a tolerable daily intake. A margin of exposure (MOE) approach was applied to evaluate the human health risk associated with the consumption of the eels investigated in this study. With a MOE of 3.4 million the chronic risk was classified as being very low. Nevertheless, due to their potential to act as genotoxic carcinogens, any oral exposure to residues of MG and LMG should be avoided. According to European Union law, zero tolerance applies to all residues of MG and LMG found in food for human consumption as MG is not registered for use as veterinary drug.     

Migration of uranium(IV)/(VI) in the presence of humic acids in quartz sand: a laboratory column study

The migration behavior of U(IV) and U(VI) in the presence of humic acid was studied in a quartz sand system. Laboratory column experiments were performed using humic acid, U(VI) in humic acid absence, U(IV) and U(VI) in humic acid presence, and for comparison a conservative tracer. In experiments using humic acid, both redox species of U migrate nearly as fast as the conservative tracer. Humic acid accelerates the U(VI) breakthrough compared to the humic acid-free system. There are strong indications for a similar effect on the U(IV) transport. At the same time, a part of U(IV) and U(VI) associated with the humic acid is immobilized in the quartz sand due to humic colloid filtration thus producing a delaying effect. Tailing at a low concentration level was observed upon tracer elution. The experimental breakthrough curves were described by reactive transport modeling using equations for equilibrium and kinetic reactions. The present study demonstrates that humic acids can play an important role in the migration of actinides. As natural organic matter is ubiquitous in aquifer systems, the humic colloid-borne transport of actinides is of high relevance in performance assessment.     

Analysis and Simulation of Wintertime Light Scattering by the Urban Aerosol in Dallas-Fort Worth

ABSTRACT

Wintertime atmospheric light scattering in Dallas, TX, was estimated through the use of aerosol models. Input data for the aerosol models were provided by measurements of aerosol chemistry, physical particle size distributions, and distributions of particulate sulfur by particle size, and by predictions by an atmospheric simulation model. Light scattering measurements provided a basis for testing the aerosol models. The SCAPE thermodynamic equilibrium model was used to estimate the amount of liquid water associated with particles and the ELSIE Mie scattering model was applied to estimate the resulting light scattering. The calculations were based on aerosol properties measured in Dallas during December 1994 and February 1995, and changes in scattering due to hypothetical changes in the aerosol were predicted. The predicted light scattering was compared to scattering measured by an Optec nephelom-eter; agreement was within 20% in every case.     

A multivariate approach for a comparison of big data matrices. Case study: thermo-hygrometric monitoring inside the Carcer Tullianum (Rome) in the absence and in the presence of visitors

In the last decades, the very fast improvement of the analytical instrumentation has led to the possibility of quickly and easily getting a lot of data; in turn, the need of advanced statistical methods suitable to extract the full information furnished by instruments has increased. Such kind of data treatments is particularly important in any case of continuous monitoring of one or more parameters, so the microclimate monitoring is a typical example for this application. Microclimate control is essential in the conservation of Cultural Heritage (CH), but decisions on optimal conservation parameters cannot base only on existing norms that do not take into account the environment’s history. Often CH has survived for many centuries in conditions that must be considered risky but also a stable state (equilibrium) resulting from a long adaptation process during which a more or less heavy damage occurred to the materials. Any successive change of microclimate parameters has interrupted this equilibrium conditions and has induced further damage to material until a new equilibrium is reached; dimension and frequency of changes are proportional to the expected damage. This thermodynamic consideration provides the background for a CH conservation project based on microclimate control and highlights the importance of environmental monitoring for the identification of equilibrium parameters to be maintained. In 2010, we monitored the microclimate of an important historical building in Rome, the Mamertino Carcer, before its opening to visitors. One year later, we repeated the monitoring in the presence of visitors, and here, we present a careful choice of multivariate data treatments adopted for an enough, simple and immediate evaluation of the microclimatic changes; this allows an easier understanding also for persons with not too deep scientific background, such as Superintendents and, in turn, really useful information to provide suggestions for a conservation project. Results evidenced the expected loss of isolation of the site that occurred by opening to visitors; this led to wider excursions of both temperature and relative humidity and, in turn, to a worsening of the conservative conditions. Surely, a monitoring of particulate matter, correlated to air fluxes and, in turn, to microclimate, is of fundamental importance for the conservation of frescoes and will be object of one of our future diagnostic interventions in the site.     

Medical radioisotopes in the environment – following the pathway from patient to river sediment

Motivated by the detection of ¹³¹I in river sediment in routine long-term surveillance samples, a systematic short-term study of the wastewater treatment chain was planned and conducted. Inflow, effluent and primary sludge were collected on a daily basis during two weeks at a regional wastewater treatment plant. Samples were investigated by gamma spectroscopy. Four medically used isotopes could be identified (¹³¹I and ^99mTc regularly, ¹⁵³Sm and ¹²³I sporadically). The concentration levels coincide well with literature data for ¹³¹I, and with our own long-term data for ¹³¹I and ^99mTc for the same plant. Cosmogenic ⁷Be activity in primary sludge correlated well with rainfall intensity. Surface sediment was sampled at low tide at both shores of the river, up- and downstream of the plant. ¹³¹I was identified in all samples, with a sharp maximum (about 100 Bq kg⁻¹ d.m.) at the discharge point of the plant and lower levels elsewhere, decreasing monotonically in downstream direction. ⁷Be and ¹³⁷Cs showed the same behaviour, but no peak at the discharge point. Predictions from simple equilibrium models for the transport and sedimentation of ¹³¹I show good agreement with the experimental data and suggest that the wastewater treatment plant is the main source for this isotope.     

Walk the line—dispersal movements of gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus)

Despite the importance of dispersal for individuals and populations, little is known about the actual dispersal process in most species. We observed 90 subadult gray mouse lemurs-small, arboreal, nocturnal primates-in Kirindy Forest in western Madagascar, to determine the behavioral processes underlying natal dispersal. Twelve radio-collared males dispersed over distances between 180 and 960?m (≈1-7 home range diameters) away from their presumed natal ranges. Dispersal forays were fast and highly directed, and thus distinct from routine movements. Contrary to expectations of current hypotheses on potential differences between different types of dispersal movements, their special movement style did not prevent dispersers from interrupting forays to exploit resources they encountered during their forays. Data from a translocation experiment indicated that highly directed dispersal or search forays reflect a general strategy for large-scale exploration away from familiar sites in this species. A prolonged transfer phase was also observed, with regular commuting between old and new sites for up to 14?days, which probably served to moderate costs of unfamiliarity with a new site. In conclusion, the dispersal process of gray mouse lemurs is characterized by high intra- and interindividual consistency in movement strategies, but variation in the duration of the transfer phase. The observed dispersal movement style represents an effective strategy balancing costs of dispersal with the need to gather an appropriate level of information about potential dispersal target sites. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-012-1371-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.