Caps and gaps: a computer model for studies on brood incubation strategies in honeybees (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera carnica</Emphasis>)

In addition to heat production on the comb surface, honeybee workers frequently visit open cells (“gaps”) that are scattered throughout the sealed brood area, and enter them to incubate adjacent brood cells. We examined the efficiency of this heating strategy under different environmental conditions and for gap proportions from 0 to 50%. For gap proportions from 4 to 10%, which are common to healthy colonies, we find a significant reduction in the incubation time per brood cell to maintain the correct temperature. The savings make up 18 to 37% of the time, which would be required for this task in completely sealed brood areas without any gaps. For unnatural high proportions of gaps (>20%), which may be the result of inbreeding or indicate a poor condition of the colony, brood nest thermoregulation becomes less efficient, and the incubation time per brood cell has to increase to maintain breeding temperature. Although the presence of gaps is not essential to maintain an optimal brood nest temperature, a small number of gaps make heating more economical by reducing the time and energy that must be spent on this vital task. As the benefit depends on the availability, spatial distribution and usage of gaps by the bees, further studies need to show the extent to which these results apply to real colonies. M. Fehler and M. Kleinhenz contributed equally to this work.     

Bird pollination of Canary Island endemic plants

The Canary Islands are home to a guild of endemic, threatened bird-pollinated plants. Previous work has suggested that these plants evolved floral traits as adaptations to pollination by flower specialist sunbirds, but subsequently, they appear to have co-opted generalist passerine birds as sub-optimal pollinators. To test this idea, we carried out a quantitative study of the pollination biology of three of the bird-pollinated plants, Canarina canariensis (Campanulaceae), Isoplexis canariensis (Veronicaceae) and Lotus berthelotii (Fabaceae), on the island of Tenerife. Using colour vision models, we predicted the detectability of flowers to bird and bee pollinators. We measured pollinator visitation rates, nectar standing crops as well as seed-set and pollen removal and deposition. These data showed that the plants are effectively pollinated by non-flower specialist passerine birds that only occasionally visit flowers. The large nectar standing crops and extended flower longevities (>10 days) of Canarina and Isoplexis suggests that they have evolved a bird pollination system that effectively exploits these low frequency non-specialist pollen vectors and is in no way sub-optimal. Seed set in two of the three species was high and was significantly reduced or zero in flowers where pollinator access was restricted. In L. berthelotii, however, no fruit set was observed, probably because the plants were self-incompatible horticultural clones of a single genet. We also show that, while all three species are easily detectable for birds, the orange Canarina and the red Lotus (but less so the yellow-orange Isoplexis) should be difficult to detect for insect pollinators without specialised red receptors, such as bumblebees. Contrary to expectations if we accept that the flowers are primarily adapted to sunbird pollination, the chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis) was an effective pollinator of these species.     

LCA法在韩国环境标志产品评价中的应用研究

中国在大力发展和推广环境标志产品的同时,对环境标志产品的系统评价工作却显得薄弱,仍主要停留在能源消耗、污染物排放、废弃回收等单一因素或简单组合方式,缺乏客观性、全面性。因此借鉴国外有关先进经验,尽快建立系统的环境标志产品评价体系是很有必要的。韩国环境标志产品LCA评价的最大优点是将复杂、专业的数据转变为易于国民理解的简单形式,而有利于环境标志产品的宣传与发展。文章以LCA法在评价韩国环境标志产品中的应用为实例,系统说明其评价过程,并探讨其优势和不足,为中国相关工作的开展提供可借鉴的经验。     

计算机网络技术在排污申报登记工作中的应用探讨

针对现有排污申报登记工作中,污染源基础数据的获取与管理的效率低、可靠性差等一系列问题,探讨利用计算机网络技术手段,改进排污申报登记的业务流程,完善排污申报登记制度。     

电磁脉冲对计算机设备的易感性问题研究

电磁脉冲对电子设备威胁越来越严重,特别是对高性能、复杂的电子设备提出了更加苛刻的可靠性要求。就当前测试用电磁脉冲环境以及电磁脉冲的测试情况做了简要的介绍;在引述相关试验结果的基础上,通过比对不同的试验结果,从网络链路的后门耦合效应到计算机频率与电磁脉冲影响的关系等多个方面,分析并阐述了电磁脉冲条件下计算机设备的易感性问题。     

LONG-TERM GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT BY A MODFLOW BASED DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION TOOL1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a computer-aided tool for selecting optimal management policies involving groundwater hydraulics over a large number of management periods. The tool, referred to as DOMODF, uses a dynamic optimization algorithm linked to an existing popular groundwater flow simulation code MODFLOW. It combines the expert knowledge of management policies with the effectiveness of optimization oriented search technique. Due to the dynamic nature of the search technique implemented in DOMODF, it is effective in dealing with long-term decision making problems. DOMODF can be used as a guidance tool for finding desirable policies to achieve various groundwater management objectives, leading to considerable savings in management costs over those predicted by currently available policies that are fed into the tool as input. The preliminary test results show the promising potential of DOMODF as an effective long-term groundwater management tool.     

硫化物沉淀法处理含EDTA的重金属废水

在运用MINTEQA2模型对模拟重金属废水和EDTA萃取液中重金属离子形态进行分析的基础上,选用Na₂S沉淀法处理含EDTA的重金属废水. 结果表明:没有含EDTA的重金属废水,Cd2＋,Cu2＋,Pb2＋和Zn2＋是重金属离子的主要形态;而在含EDTA的模拟重金属废水和重金属萃取液中,重金属络合物是重金属离子的主要形态. 在c(EDTA)为0的条件下,Cd2＋,Cu2＋和Pb2＋的去除率达到100%,而Zn2＋的去除率仅为57.0%;随着c(EDTA)的增加,相同c(Na₂S)对废水中重金属的去除率逐渐下降. 在一定c(EDTA)的条件下,废水中重金属的去除率随着c(Na₂S)的增加而增加;但是在相同c(Na₂S)的条件下,Zn2＋的去除率较Cd2＋,Cu2＋和Pb2＋低. 工程实例进一步表明,Na₂S能够有效去除含EDTA重金属萃取液中的重金属离子,而完全去除Zn2＋则需要高浓度的Na₂S.      

Tools for an enhanced solvent properties screening in the early stages of pharmaceutical process development

The objective of this research was the implementation of tools for the evaluation of solvents trough property screening in the early stages of process development. An important feature of the tools is that the implementation of indexes, scores, or weights is avoided. Information already available from the literature was stored in a database in order to turn raw data into decision making information. As a result, a solvent radar chart, a solvent representation table, and a solvent telescopying tool were developed in an ASP.NET application. The synthesis of Propranolol was used as study case in order to explore the selection of solvents in the early stages of process development. The replacement of diethyl ether was possible in the extraction step, while solvent choices were detected for potential telescoping for extraction and crystallisation steps. Solubility was found as a critical parameter in telescoping analysis. The methodology proposed enhanced the view towards a more holistic perspective and a more robust solvent screening process. As a consequence, the next steps into solvent evaluation and process development can be reduced.     

群体心理行为模拟的探讨

目前群体心理行为的计算机模拟的重要性日益显现,研究工作取得了一定成就．面临的巨大困难是如何建立一个可信的群体心理模型。笔者对群体心理行为模拟现状进行了介绍和分析。