Ecotoxicological assessment of doxycycline in soil

Doxycycline has been used in continually increasing quantities for mass treatment of food animals because of its greater bioavailability relative to older tetracyclines. The study presented in this paper was undertaken to investigate the degradation rate of the tetracycline derivative in manure-amended soil. In the present experiment, following composting, the doxycycline-contaminated manure was applied to agricultural land, and a field study was performed to investigate the degradation rate of doxycycline in soil. By the end of the 20-week sampling period, about 20 %, 33 % and 18 % of the initial doxycycline concentrations could be measured in soil samples taken at three different soil depths. The calculated half-life of doxycycline in the soil was 66.5, 76.3 and 59.4 days at depths of 0 cm, 25 cm and 50 cm, respectively. The potential effect of doxycycline on soil microbial activity was demonstrated by the nitrogen transformation test performed in compliance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guideline No. 216. On day 28, the following nitrate concentrations of the control soil sample were found in the soil samples treated with different amounts of doxycycline: 76.9 %, 53.0 %, 65.6 %, 59.7 % and 77.1 %.     

Biological evaluation of SZI‐121, a new miticide

Abstract

A large number of tetrazine analogues were synthetised and tested as miticides. A comprehensive screening system was applied to recognise some effects important in terms of field performance. A promising new substance, coded as SZI‐121 was choosen for further development. It proved to be about four‐times more active as an ovicide (LC₅₀=0.05 ppm) than the reference clofentezine, when administered to the eggs directly (LC₅₀=0.23 ppm). In contrast to clofentezine which has solely a contact mode of action, SZI‐121 has excelent translaminar activity acting on already laid eggs (LC₅₀= 18.66 ppm) or those in females feeding on the opposite, non‐treated side of the leaf (LC₅₀=5.11 ppm). High toxicity of SZI‐121 to the chrysalis form (LC₅₀=0.39 ppm) was also observed. The field rate of SZI‐121 is 60–100 g a.i./ha against a wide range of phytophagous mites including European red mite (Panonychus ulmi), two spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), grape leaf rust mite (Calepitrimerus vitis), vine leaf blister mite (Colomerus vitis), apple leaf rust mite (Aculus schlechtendali), stone fruit leaf rust mite (Vasates fockeui). Because it stops the development of mites in egg and chrysalis forms simultaneously, SZI‐121 can be used independently from actual development stages of mites during the whole season as the field trials demonstrated. These characteristics permit SZI‐121 to be easily fitted into integrated pest management.     

Tactics, effectiveness and avoidance of mate guarding in the blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)

We examined the dynamics and avoidance of mate guarding, by males and females, in the blue-footed booby, in which the two social mates are usually simultaneously present on the territory but each of them is unmonitored by the other for one-quarter of its time. Both sexes were promiscuous and liable to switch mates. Cuckolded individuals did not increase their overall presence on the territory, but in response to the extra-pair (EP) courtships of their mates, both sexes doubled their rate of intra-pair (IP) courtship and sometimes showed aggression. The male or female's presence depressed the social mate's EP activity, but intra-pair courtship had no such effect, tending even to propitiate that EP activity. Similarly, when females responded to their social mates' EP courtship with approach or aggression, disruption of EP activity was short-lived. Promiscuous females modified their diurnal pattern of attendance, as if attempting to sidestep monitoring by their mates, but cuckolded males matched the modification. Both sexes tended to perform their EP activities at a distance when their mates were present, possibly to evade monitoring or disruption by their mates. Male and female boobies cannot monitor their mates continuously, they do little to facultatively adjust their presence on territory to the risk of infidelity, and their immediate responses to overt infidelity have only the briefest impact; but the information they acquire while monitoring their mates may be critical to constraining their mates' infidelity and also to calibrating their own reproductive investment.     

光照对芦丁稳定性及抑菌活性的影响

黄酮类化合物具有多羟基结构易被氧化,为了解其羟基被氧化后,是否还具有抑菌、抗癌等多种生物学活性,对芦丁光照处理前后的含量、抗氧化活性(清除DPPH.和还原能力)、分子结构以及抑菌活性进行了比较研究.结果表明,随着光照时间的延长,芦丁含量和抗氧化活性均呈下降趋势,降解反应属于一级反应,半衰期为187.3 d.结构鉴定表明,光照处理芦丁母核结构没有降解,只是A环5、7-OH和B环3′、4′-OH氢解离,芦丁在溶液中以负离子或自由基形式存在.芦丁氧化前后的浓度与抑菌效果均成良好的量效关系,其相关系数分别为0.933 2和0.933 0.但氧化芦丁的EC50值(15.58 g/L)与对照(6.34 g/L)相比差异显著(P<0.01).可见,氧化芦丁的抑菌活性明显降低.这进一步表明,芦丁分子结构的细微改变与体外的抗氧化活性和抑菌活性三者之间的构效关系基本一致.     

Aspects of Tests and Assessment of Filtering Materials Used for Respiratory Protection Against Bioaerosols. Part II: Sweat in the Environment,Microorganisms in the Form of a Bioaerosol

The second part of the article presents the results of a study of antimicrobial activity of filter nonwovens with an addition of biocides, as a function of the presence of sweat in the environment and the method of microbe deposition on a nonwoven in the form of a liquid and a bioaerosol. At the same time, the filtration efficiency of nonwovens against microorganisms in the form of a bioaerosol was tested with the dynamic method. The results showed that the addition of sweat on the surface of a nonwoven resulted in an insignificant decrease of biological activity that still remained high. Moreover, an active nonwoven showed biostatic and biocidal activity only when microbes were deposited on the surface in the form of a solution. The nonwoven did not show any biological activity after deposition of microorganisms with the dynamical method in the form of a bioaerosol.     

促生剂投量对菌剂-促生剂协同修复沉积物的影响

采用5个110 L的模拟河道反应器,在投加菌剂的基础上(底泥稳定后向底泥和水中分别注射浓度为0.09%和0.03%的菌剂),生物促生剂投量分别设计为0(空白对照实验)、0.08、0.09、0.10和0.11 g·L~(-1),通过为期115 d的修复实验研究菌剂与促生剂协同作用时底泥微生物群落特征变化规律,进而分析其对底泥修复效果的影响.实验表明,投加促生剂后,115 d时Chloroflexi、Proteobacteria、Firmicutes、Betaproteobacteria及Bacteroidetes等主要功能菌群相对丰度增加,脲酶活性与蛋白酶活性后期时总体上低于单独投加菌剂组.促生剂投量为0.10 g·L~(-1)时,上覆水COD_(Cr)稳定浓度为16.82 mg·L~(-1),低于其余各组;底泥TOC含量由初始的0.808%下降至第115 d时的0.687%,去除率为14.9%,显著高于其余各组;促生剂投量为0.11 g·L~(-1)时,底泥全氮去除率最高为14.8%.生物促生剂促使微生物群落向更适宜降解去除氮素及有机质的方向演替,有效改善底泥环境.     

活性污泥中水解酶的研究进展

水解酶由活性污泥中的微生物产生,它们普遍存在于各种生物处理系统中,并对大分子有机物的生物降解起到关键性的作用。综述了水解酶在活性污泥中的分布特性、酶活力的测定方法、影响酶活力的因素等几个方面的最新研究进展。     

Depth profiles of radiocarbon and carbon isotopic compositions of organic matter and CO2 in a forest soil

Depth profiles of the specific activities of (14)C and carbon isotopic compositions (Delta(14)C, delta(13)C) in soil organic matter and soil CO(2) in a Japanese larch forest were determined. For investigating the transport of CO(2) in soil, specific activities of (14)C, Delta(14)C and delta(13)C in the organic layer, and atmospheric CO(2) in the same forest area were also determined. The specific activity of (14)C and Delta(14)C in the soil organic matter decreased with the increase in depth of 0-60cm, while that of soil CO(2) did not vary greatly at a soil depth of 13-73cm and was more prevalent than that of atmospheric CO(2). Peaks of specific activities of (14)C appeared at the depth of 0-4cm and Delta(14)C values were positive in the depth range from 0 to 15cm. These results suggest that the present soil at a depth of 0-4cm had been produced from the mid-1950s up until 1963, and the bomb C had reached the depth of 15cm in the objective soil area. The delta(13)C in the soil organic matter increased at the depth of 0-55cm, while that of soil CO(2) collected on 8 November 2004 decreased rapidly at the depth of 0-13cm and only slightly at the depth of 53-73cm. By combining the Delta(14)C and delta(13)C of the respective components and using the Keeling plot approach it was made clear that the entering of atmospheric CO(2) showed a large contribution to soil CO(2) at the depth of 0-13cm and a negligible contribution at the depth of 53-73cm for soil air collected on 8 November 2004. Respiration of live roots was presumed to be the main source of soil CO(2) at the depth of 53-73cm on 8 November 2004.     

Human Freshwater Demand for Economic Activity and Ecosystems in Taiwan

Freshwater is necessary to economic activity, and humans depend on goods and services generated by water-dependent ecosystems. However, national freshwater management usually focuses on direct use of domestic freshwater. With an increasing scarcity of freshwater, attention has turned to two indirect uses of freshwater by humans. The first indirect use is freshwater used by foreign countries when producing products for export. The second use is freshwater required by local ecosystems: human survival and development depend on goods and services generated in these ecosystems. This work adopted Taiwan as a case study. In addition to two widely recognized ecosystem freshwater demands, evapotranspiration and reversed river flow, this study suggests that freshwater is a constituent of some abiotic components, such as groundwater in aquifers, because excessive withdrawal has already caused significant land subsidence in Taiwan. Moreover, the estimated results show that Taiwan’s net imports of freshwater through trade amounts to approximately 25% of its total freshwater use for economic production. Integrating industrial policy, trade policy, and national freshwater management is a useful approach for developing strategies to limit the growing use of freshwater in Taiwan. Policy implications are then developed by further analyzing withdrawal sources of freshwater (domestic and foreign) for supporting economic production in Taiwan and identifying the factors (domestic final demand and export) driving freshwater-intensive products.