Degradation of extracellular genomic,plasmid DNA and specific antibiotic resistance genes by chlorination

Extracellular DNA structure damaged by chlorination was characterized. Integrity of extracellular ARG genetic information after chlorination was determined. Typical chlorine doses will likely effectively diminish extracellular DNA and ARGs. Plasmid DNA/ARGs were less readily broken down than genomic DNA. The Bioanalyzer methodology effectively documented damage incurred to DNA. There is a need to improve understanding of the effect of chlorine disinfection on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in order to advance relevant drinking water, wastewater, and reuse treatments. However, few studies have explicitly assessed the physical effects on the DNA. Here we examined the effects of free chlorine (1–20 mg Cl₂/L) on extracellular genomic, plasmid DNA and select ARGs. Chlorination was found to decrease the fluorometric signal of extracellular genomic and plasmid DNA (ranging from 0.005 to 0.05 mg/mL) by 70%, relative to a no-chlorine control. Resulting DNA was further subject to a fragment analysis using a Bioanalyzer, indicating that chlorination resulted in fragmentation. Moreover, chlorine also effectively deactivated both chromosomal- and plasmid-borne ARGs, mecA and tetA, respectively. For concentrations >2 mg Cl₂//L × 30 min, chlorine efficiently reduced the qPCR signal when the initial concentration of ARGs was 10⁵ copies/mL or less. Notably, genomic DNA and mecA gene signals were more readily reduced by chlorine than the plasmid-borne tetA gene (by ~2 fold). Based on the results of qPCR with short (~200 bps) and long amplicons (~1200 bps), chlorination could destroy the integrity of ARGs, which likely reduces the possibility of natural transformation. Overall, our findings strongly illustrate that chlorination could be an effective method for inactivating extracellular chromosomal- and plasmid-borne DNA and ARGs.     

乌江中上游新建水库水体甲基汞的时空分布

为了弄清新修建的水库是否造成水体甲基汞浓度升高，以贵州省乌江流域2座新建水库洪家渡水库和索风营水库为研究对象，采用蒸馏 乙基化结合（GC CVAFS）法测定了不同季节水库水体中甲基汞的浓度，最低检出限为 0.009 ng/L。探讨了水质参数对甲基汞分布的影响以及水库水体甲基汞的分布特征。结果显示:洪家渡水库总甲基汞浓度夏季平均值为 0.11 ng/L，秋季平均值为 0.08 ng/L，冬季平均值为 0.10 ng/L；索风营水库总甲基汞浓度夏季平均值为 0.11 ng/L，秋季平均值为 0.07 ng/L，冬季平均值为 0.09 ng/L。数据表明2座水库水体甲基汞含量均较低，低于目前我国环境质量标准规定的一类地表水汞含量标准限值，与世界上其他未受污染的水体基本相当。水库水体甲基汞浓度随水体深度的增加没有明显的变化规律，且夏季略高于冬季、秋季，这与夏季降雨量和温度有关，在入库处与大坝前没有明显的变化趋势。这与水库中被淹没土壤有机质含量偏低且流域内基岩为碳酸盐有关，还与其他环境因素有关(如pH值较高，DOC含量偏低等)。通过研究发现目前库区环境汞的甲基化率低，但随着水库生态系统的不断演化，内源和外源营养物的输入及水体在温度分层其间自身甲基汞的形成，导致水体甲基汞含量的逐渐增加，但仍需进一步的研究证实。     

红枫湖地表水中多环芳烃的分布及来源

将固相微萃取与气相色谱联用，对贵阳红枫湖水样中16种美国环境保护署优控的多环芳烃进行分析。结果表明：红枫湖水中16种多环芳烃总量为0167 1~0336 4 μg/L，与国内其它水系相比，湖中存在多环芳烃轻度污染。7种（萘、荧蒽、苯并(b)荧蒽、苯并(k)荧蒽、苯并(a)芘、茚并(1,2,3-cd)芘和苯并(ghi)苝）多环芳烃的总量未超出中国城市供水行业对多环芳烃规定的限值，但作为饮用水源，红枫湖水中的苯并(a)芘含量已超出我国标准GB3838-2002中生活饮用水地表水源地的苯并(a)芘限值，并且苯并(a)蒽、〖JX-*9〗〖SX（B-25x〗〖HT7，5”〗艹〖〗〖HT6”，5”〗屈〖HT5”〗〖SX）〗〖JX*9〗、苯并(b)荧蒽、苯并(k)荧蒽、苯并(a)芘、茚并(1,2,3-cd)芘的含量也超过了美国环境保护署地表水水质标准限值。通过多环芳烃特征参数的比值，分析了红枫湖水中多环芳烃的污染来源。污染源分析表明，湖中多环芳烃的主要来源为燃烧源，包括木材、煤以及化石燃料的燃烧，同时也有一部分多环芳烃是来源石油类物质的输入.     

Hybrid H2/Al dust explosions in Siwek sphere

Explosion indices and explosion behaviour of Al dust/H₂/air mixtures were studied using standard 20 l sphere. The study was motivated by an explosion hazard occurring at some accidental scenarios considered now in ITER design (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). During Loss-of-Vacuum or Loss-of-Coolant Accidents (LOCA/LOVA) it is possible to form inside the ITER vacuum vessel an explosible atmosphere containing fine Be or W dusts and hydrogen. To approach the Be/H₂ explosion problem, Be dust is substituted in this study by aluminium, because of high toxicity of Be dusts. The tested dust concentrations were 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1200 g/m3; hydrogen concentrations varied from 8 to 20 vol. % with 2% step. The mixtures were ignited by a weak electric spark. Pressure evolutions were recorded during the mixture explosions. In addition, the gaseous compositions of the combustion products were measured by a quadruple mass-spectrometer. The dust was involved in the explosion process at all hydrogen and dust concentrations even at the combination ‘8%/100 g/m3’. In all the other tests the explosion overpressures and the pressure rise rates were noticeably higher than those relevant to pure H₂/air mixtures and pure Al dust/air mixtures. At lower hybrid fuel concentrations the mixture exploded in two steps: first hydrogen explosion followed by a clearly separated Al dust explosion. With rising concentrations, the two-phase explosion regime transits to a single-phase regime where the two fuel components exploded together as a single fuel. In this regime both the hybrid explosion pressures and pressure rise rates are higher than either H₂ or Al ones. The two fuels compete for the oxygen; the higher the dust concentration, the more part of O2 it consumes (and the more H₂ remains in the combustion products). The test results are used to support DUST3D CFD code developed at KIT to model LOCA or LOVA scenarios in ITER.     

多能硫杆菌1,5-二磷酸核酮糖羧化酶/加氧酶的酶学特征及基因检测

从固体平板的生长情况及RubisCO酶活性测定结果，表明多能硫杆菌是通过卡尔文循环固定的CO2，并具有该循环的关键酶──1，5－二磷酸核酮糖羧化酶／加氧酶．进一步将多能硫杆菌染色体DNA用各种限制性内切酸酶切，Southern转移到硝酸纤维素滤膜上，与光合细菌Rhodobactersphaeroides的RubisCO基因（rbcL－rbcS）探针杂交，显示出杂交带型，说明多能硫杆菌具有R．sphaeroides同源的羧化酶基因，并初步将该基因定位在3．0kb的PstⅠ片段内．     

长江口柱状沉积物中有机质C/N比的研究

对长江口四个站位沉积物中有机质的C／N比在垂向上的分布进行了研究，在影响沉积物中有机质C／N比的环境因素中，上覆水体的水深、盐度、密度以及浊度对其有一定的影响．在研究沉积物中有机质C／N比的分布及其影响因素的基础上，进一步估算了陆源输入和海洋自生有机碳在这四个站位沉积物有机碳中所占的比例，结果表明，海洋自生组分占沉积物总有机碳的比例分别为：53．57％(8号站位)、20．34％(11号站位)，12．28％(17号站位)和32．73％(26号站位)．     

铜（Ⅱ）－二乙基二硫代氨基甲酸钠－乳化剂OP光度法测定土壤有效铜

本文研究了二乙基二硫代氨基甲酸钠（铜试剂）水相光度法测定微量铜（Ⅱ）的条件．在乳化剂ＯＰ（聚乙二醇辛基本基醚）存在的情况下．在ｐＨ８．５的缓冲介质中，铜（Ⅱ）与铜试剂形成棕黄色的配合物，显色体系在４５４ｎｍ处有最大吸收，其表观摩尔吸光系数为１．４３×１０４Ｌ／ｍｏｌ·ｃｍ，铜（Ⅱ）含量在０－６０μｇ／２５ｍｌ范围内服从比耳定律．该方法简便、快速，应用于土壤有效铜的测定，结果与原子吸收法基本一致．     

乳化剂OP和邻菲啰啉存在下硫氰酸钾分光光度法测定土壤有效铁和植物中的铁

在硫酸介质中，在非离子表面活性剂乳化剂ＯＰ和邻菲啉共同存在下，铁（Ⅲ）与硫氰酸钾形成红色配合物，其最大吸收波长为５２２ｎｍ，表观摩尔吸光系数为２．０７…１０￣４Ｌ／ｍｏｌ．ｃｍ，铁（Ⅲ）含量在０—５０μｇ／２５ｍｌ范围内符合比耳定律．该法操作简便、快速．选择性好，应用于土壤有效铁和植物中铁的测定．结果令人满意．     

Female choice on male quantitative traits in lizards — why is it so rare?

Female choice on the basis of male traits has been described in an array of taxa but has rarely been demonstrated in reptiles. In the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), and possibly in other non-territorial reptiles, a male's contribution to a female's fitness is restricted to his genes. In order to choose males of high genetic quality, females have to trade the fitness gain against the costs of active choice. In a Swedish population of sand lizards, long-lived males sired offspring with higher embryonic survival compared to offspring sired by short-lived males. In spite of this female sand lizards did not mate selectively with older and/or larger males. There appeared to be mo reliable cues to male longevity; age-specific male body size was highly variable. Furthermore, estimates of male nuptial coloration did not covary with ectoparasite load and, hence, females cannot use male coloration as a cue to heritable resistance to pathogenic parasite effects. When cues to male genetic quality are poor, or inaccurate, and males make no parental investment, we predict that female choice will be rare. Sand lizard females mating with many partners lay clutches with higher hatching success. Thus, females may obtain good genes for their young by multiple mating, thereby avoiding costs associated with mate choice.     

Uncertainty, learning, and the optimal management of wildlife

Wildlife management is limited by uncontrolled and often unrecognized environmental variation, by limited capabilities to observe and control animal populations, and by a lack of understanding about the biological processes driving population dynamics. In this paper I describe a comprehensive framework for management that includes multiple models and likelihood values to account for structural uncertainty, along with stochastic factors to account for environmental variation, random sampling, and partial controllability. Adaptive optimization is developed in terms of the optimal control of incompletely understood populations, with the expected value of perfect information measuring the potential for improving control through learning. The framework for optimal adaptive control is generalized by including partial observability and non-adaptive, sample-based updating of model likelihoods. Passive adaptive management is derived as a special case of constrained adaptive optimization, representing a potentially efficient suboptimal alternative that nonetheless accounts for structural uncertainty.