The Cytotoxicity of Some Organic Solvents on Isolated Hepatocytes in Monolayer Culture

The cytotoxic effects of volatile and water-insoluble organic solvents (ethylbenzene, tetrachloroethylene, n-hexane) were tested on isolated hepatocytes in monolayer culture by using the 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay. All of the tested compounds inhibited metabolic activity of hepatocytes and this effect depended on the concentration of solvents in the incubatory medium. The presence of fetal calf serum in the medium did not change the cytotoxicity of xenobiotics. IC₅₀ values calculated on the basis of the MTT assay indicated that ethylbenzene was more cytotoxic than tetrachloroethylene and n-hexane. Using hepatocyte monolayer culture and the MTT assay to assess cytotoxicity of organic solvents causes many technical problems. It seems that it cannot be used as a rapid, cheap, and credible method.     

On the Assessment of the Structural Organization of Phytoplankton (Lake Bol'shoe Miassovo,the Southern Urals)

Ordination methods were applied to the identification of structural units in the phytoplankton community. The groups of phytoplanktonic species identified by the time gradient and the method of cluster analysis of species lists were compared. The structural complexity of the phytoplankton community was evaluated using the index of cenotic significance (ICS) and derivative calculation coefficients. A high degree of similarity in the structure of dominance between the zooplanktonic and phytoplanktonic communities of the water body was revealed.     

Oracle-based optimization applied to climate model calibration

In this paper, we show how oracle-based optimization can be effectively used for the calibration of an intermediate complexity climate model. In a fully developed example, we estimate the 12 principal parameters of the C-GOLDSTEIN climate model by using an oracle-based optimization tool, Proximal-ACCPM. The oracle is a procedure that finds, for each query point, a value for the goodness-of-fit function and an evaluation of its gradient. The difficulty in the model calibration problem stems from the need to undertake costly calculations for each simulation and also from the fact that the error function used to assess the goodness-of-fit is not convex. The method converges to a ‘best fit’ estimate over 10 times faster than a comparable test using the ensemble Kalman filter. The approach is simple to implement and potentially useful in calibrating computationally demanding models based on temporal integration (simulation), for which functional derivative information is not readily available.     

投入产出模型在工业生态系统分析中的应用

应用投入产出模型构建出工业生态系统物质流分析的基本框架，在此基础上提出工业生态系统“关键种企业”的识别方法。以及工业生态系统企业能量消耗特征、累计污染排放特征的量化分析方法。这些分析方法将是辅助工业生态系统日常管理与维护的有力工具。     

Apples, Oranges, and Probabilities: Integrating Multiple Factors into Biodiversity Conservation with Consistency

We explore the problem of integrating some of the many factors involved in conservation planning by focusing on their effects on a common currency of conservation success, the probability of persistence. This approach has the potential to reduce many of the difficulties inherent in combining different pattern and process factors. For handling information expressed as probabilities, five area-selection methods are compared.     

Time allocation strategies in insect parasitoids: from ultimate predictions to proximate behavioral mechanisms

As most parasitoids are time limited, they usually die before they have laid all their eggs. In such cases, optimal foraging theory predicts that female parasitoids will adopt behavioral reproductive strategies enabling them to maximize progeny production per unit of time. One key situation in which parasitoid females must optimize their time budget is related to the fact that most of their hosts are distributed in discrete patches in the environment. In this review, I first present the results of basic theoretical models predicting female wasp search duration on a patch of hosts. I then compile and analyze all studies investigating the effect of different factors on parasitoid patch time allocation and patch-leaving decision rules. Different patch-leaving mechanisms that were proposed to explain the results obtained are discussed, along with statistical methods that should be used to estimate them from experimental data. Finally, ideas for future research are presented.     

APPLICATION OF THE BASINS DATABASE AND NPSM MODEL ON A SMALL OHIO WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) watershed management system. BASINS data were used with the NPSM model to predict discharge and sediment concentrations at the outlet of a 103 km² Ohio watershed. It was concluded that the NPSM model should always be calibrated but only a few of the parameters provided with BASINS needed to be calibrated. For a three‐year study period, there was a 2 percent underestimation of discharge using area weighted precipitation values and a 25 percent overestimation using the single station data in BASINS. A comparison of observed and predicted monthly discharge resulted in an r² of 0.86 with area‐weighted precipitation and an r² of 0.74 with the single station data. Calibrating the model to substantially improve sediment predictions was unsuccessful and we concluded that a calibration period of one year was too short. For the three‐year study period, the r² for sediment was 0.36 with a slope of 0.37 and an intercept of 18.8 mg/l. The mean observed and predicted sediment concentrations were 27.1 mg/l and 22.6 mg/l, respectively.     

Source Apportionment in the Town of La Spezia (Italy) by Continuous Aerosol Sampling and PIXE Analysis

We describe the results of an aerosol sampling campaign performedin 1999 in the medium-size industrial town of La Spezia, in theNorthwest of Italy. We used two-stage continuous streakersamplers in three different sites and periods of the year. This kind of samplers allows the separation of the PM₁₀ andPM_2.2 fractions of the particulate matter. Moreover, the hourly resolution in the aerosol collection is particularly useful inan urban environment where, typically, many pollution sourceswith fast variations are present. Up to 1700 samples have beenanalysed by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) at the INFNaccelerator facility in Florence, obtaining hourly concentrationfor about 20 elements from Na to Pb, with a sensitivity rangingfrom below 1 to about 10 ng m^-3. The total hourly aerosolmass has been estimated with an optical analysis of the samesamples performed (before the PIXE analysis) by an equipment designed and mounted in Genoa. An extensive statistical analysisof the data included standard and Absolute Principal ComponentFactor Analysis (PCFA and APCFA) to deduce the compositionand the weight of the major aerosol sources in both fractions.Thorough different statistical approaches, we generally resolvedcontributions from vehicle emission, fossil fuel combustion,soil-road dust and sea salt aerosol.     

亚甲基蓝分光光度法测定硫化物校准曲线斜率、截距参考值研究

通过近三年实验室采用亚甲基蓝分光光度法测定硫化物校准曲线制作的一系列原始数据的收集,并通过数理统计方法对校准曲线、-余标准偏差、斜率扩展不确定度、截距扩展不确定度开展了详细讨论,得出亚甲基蓝分光光度法测定硫化物校准曲线斜率(b)参考范围为:0.019 1±0.00044,截距(a)参考值范围:0.003 3±0.005 0.此结果对实验室分析人员判定硫化物项目校准曲线制作是否合格具有一定的参考价值.     

Statistical control in correlational studies: 10 essential recommendations for organizational researchers

Statistical control is widely used in correlational studies with the intent of providing more accurate estimates of relationships among variables, more conservative tests of hypotheses, or ruling out alternative explanations for empirical findings. However, the use of control variables can produce uninterpretable parameter estimates, erroneous inferences, irreplicable results, and other barriers to scientific progress. As a result, methodologists have provided a great deal of advice regarding the use of statistical control, to the point that researchers might have difficulties sifting through and prioritizing the available suggestions. We integrate and condense this literature into a set of 10 essential recommendations that are generally applicable and which, if followed, would substantially enhance the quality of published organizational research. We provide explanations, qualifications, and examples following each recommendation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.