Environmental impacts of iron ore tailings—The case of Tolo Harbour,Hong Kong

Disposal of iron ore tailings along the shore of Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong has altered the adjacent environment. Due to the ever-expanding population, the vast development of various industries, and the lack of sanitary control, the existing pollution problem of Tolo Harbour is serious. The iron ore tailings consist of a moderate amount of various heavy metals, e.g., copper, iron, manganese, lead, zinc, and a lower level of macronutrients. A few living organisms have been found colonizing this manmade habitat. Higher metal contents were also found in the tissue ofPaphia sp. (clam);Scopimera intermedia (crab);Chaetomorpha brychagona (green alga);Enteromorpha crinita (green alga); andNeyraudia reynaudiana (grass). The area can be reclaimed by surface amelioration using inert materials, soils, or organic substrates, and by direct seeding, using nontolerant and tolerant plant materials. Reclamation of the tailings would improve the amenity of the adjacent environment and also mitigate pollution escaping to the sea.     

斑鳢等鱼贝类去毒相关基因的克隆

采用RT-PCR和RACE法,克隆得到斑鳢、鲢鱼CYPlA与斑鳢HSP70基因cDNA的核心序列,序列长度分别为908 bp、902 bp、684 bp,分别编码302、300、228个氨基酸;还克隆得到斑鳢、近江牡蛎GPX基因cDNA的部分序列,长度分别为720 bp、727 bp,分别编码119、232个氨基酸.多个重要养殖水生动物的去毒相关基因的成功克隆,为水产养殖动物去毒相关基因结构、功能、表达调控研究以及今后定向筛选高食用安全保障的水产品奠定基础.     

海水、大气化学演化对动物起源和进化方向的制约

动物的起源主要依赖于氨基酸等有机小分子在海水中能否进行脱水缩合反应而生成生物高分子，后者则依赖于海水pH值升高和大气CO2浓度降低的历史演化进程。有机小分子只有在海水pH值演化到近中性，即寒或纪时彼此才能发生脱水缩合反应而合成生物高分子。只有大气CO2分压降到1000Pa以下，即泥盆纪以后，陆地上才能出现稳定的土壤层和植物，动物也才能从海洋扩展到陆地。随后大气CO2浓度继续降低导致了气温下降和植物生长率的衰减，促使动物进一步演化。     

作物秸秆资源的利用及其影响因素--以山西省夏县为例

作物秸秆资源的利用对提高食物安全,减轻环境污染,促进农业可持续发展具有重要意义.通过对农户的调查,分析了山西省夏县的秸秆利用途径,对该县秸秆利用现状进行了评价,并分析了造成这种现状的原因.结果表明,夏县作为典型的"小麦-玉米"二熟农作区,秸秆利用效率较高,其中小麦秸秆主要用于工业原料、饲料和还田,玉米秸秆则主要用于饲料和弃置堆放.这种利用方式与造纸业发展、传统的牲畜饲喂方式、农业机械化发展和气候特点有关.最后提出了进一步高效利用秸秆资源的建议.     

Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment: An Empirical Model to Describe Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment on the Culling of Healthy Animals During an Animal Disease Epidemic

In this paper, we present and defend the theoretical framework of an empirical model to describe people’s fundamental moral attitudes (FMAs) to animals, the stratification of FMAs in society and the role of FMAs in judgment on the culling of healthy animals in an animal disease epidemic. We used philosophical animal ethics theories to understand the moral basis of FMA convictions. Moreover, these theories provide us with a moral language for communication between animal ethics, FMAs, and public debates. We defend that FMA is a two-layered concept. The first layer consists of deeply felt convictions about animals. The second layer consists of convictions derived from the first layer to serve as arguments in a debate on animal issues. In a debate, the latter convictions are variable, depending on the animal issue in a specific context, time, and place. This variability facilitates finding common ground in an animal issue between actors with opposing convictions.     

Differences in responses of herpetobionts and geobionts to impact from the Kosogorsky Metallurgical Plant (Tula region,Russia)

The influence of the Kosogorsky Metallurgical Plant (KMP; Tula region, Russia) on the abundance and biodiversity of carabid beetles and soil macrofauna and on the trophic activity of soil biota was studied. Metal concentrations in the impact plot were many times higher than those in the control plot located on the same transect. As the transect approached KMP, both the abundance of soil invertebrates (geobionts) and trophic activity of the soil biota remained unchanged, whereas the abundance and diversity of carabids (herpetobionts) decreased drastically. It is suggested that the impact of the KMP on herpetobionts is accounted for by modification of the structure of ecosystems and that herpetobiontic and geobiontic groups of the macrofauna respond differently to this impact because of differences in the ecological mechanisms of population response.     

The wild ancestors of domestic animals as a neglected and threatened component of biodiversity

Domestic animals have immense economic, cultural, and practical value and have played pivotal roles in the development of human civilization. Many domesticates have, among their wild relatives, undomesticated forms representative of their ancestors. Resurgent interest in these ancestral forms has highlighted the unclear genetic status of many, and some are threatened with extinction by hybridization with domestic conspecifics. We considered the contemporary status of these ancestral forms relative to their scientific, practical, and ecological importance; the varied impacts of wild–domestic hybridization; and the challenges and potential resolutions involved in conservation efforts. Identifying and conserving ancestral forms, particularly with respect to disentangling patterns of gene flow from domesticates, is complex because of the lack of available genomic and phenotypic baselines. Comparative behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies of ancestral-type, feral, and domestic animals should be prioritized to establish the contemporary status of the former. Such baseline information will be fundamental in ensuring successful conservation efforts.     

Non-Violence Towards Animals in the Thinking of Gandhi: the Problem of Animal Husbandry

The question of the imperatives induced by the Gandhian concept of non-violence towards animals is an issue that has been neglected by specialists on the thinking of the Mahatma. The aim of this article is to highlight the systematic – and significant – character of this particular aspect of his views on non-violence. The first part introduces the theoretical foundations of the duty of non-violence towards animals in general. Gandhi's critical interpretation of cow-protection, advocated by Hinduism, leads to a general reflection on the duty of non-violence towards animals, the cow being transformed into the representative of all “dumb creation.” The approach adopted by Gandhi to solving the problem of cow-protection focuses on its practical dimensions and is based primarily on reforming animal husbandry. What limits should be imposed on the exploitation of farm animals within the framework of non-violence? Gandhi devoted nearly 30 years to elaborating an animal husbandry system that would be both economically viable and in conformity with the universal ethical principles he drew from religions (especially Hinduism). The interdiction to kill is absolute, since Gandhi not only rejects the breeding of farm animals for the purposes of butchery but also the slaughtering of animals that are no longer capable of providing the services required of them. He therefore concentrated his efforts on drawing up a scheme to reorganize this activity on a national scale while taking into consideration these constraints, which are less contradictory than they may seem to be at first sight. Reviewing the age-old activity of animal husbandry in the light of non-violence is clearly based on the specific nature of Hindu traditions. However, it goes far beyond cultural or religious relativism, since it is also founded on universal ethical principles.     

A Pluralist–Expressivist Critique of the Pet Trade

Elizabeth Anderson’s “pluralist–expressivist” value theory, an alternative to the understanding of value and rationality underlying the “rational actor” model of human behavior, provides rich resources for addressing questions of environmental and animal ethics. It is particularly well-suited to help us think about the ethics of commodification, as I demonstrate in this critique of the pet trade. I argue that Anderson’s approach identifies the proper grounds for criticizing the commodification of animals, and directs our attention to the importance of maintaining social practices and institutions that respect the social meanings of animals. Her theory alone, however, does not adequately address the role of the state in this project. Drawing on social contract theory to fill this gap, I conclude that the state’s role in regulating the pet trade should be limited to ensuring the welfare of animals in the stream of commerce, not prohibiting their mass marketing altogether.     

Animal Rights: Autonomy and Redundancy

Even if animal liberation were to be adopted, would rights for animals be redundant – or even deleterious? Such an objection, most prominently voiced by L. W. Sumner and Paul W. Taylor, is misguided, risks an anthropocentric and anthropomorphic conception of autonomy and freedom, overly agent-centered rights conceptions, and an overlooking of the likely harmful consequences of positing rights for humans but not for nonhuman animals. The objection in question also stems from an overly pessimistic construal of autonomy-infringements thought to result from extending rights to animals, and also, of confusions that supposedly may ensue from ascribing animal rights. Whether or not a case for animal liberation and/or animal rights can cogently be made, the redundancy-or-worse objection to animal rights need pose no barrier.