A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings

Myrmecophily provides various examples of how social structures can be overcome to exploit vast and well-protected resources. Ant nest beetles (Paussinae) are particularly well suited for ecological and evolutionary considerations in the context of association with ants because life habits within the subfamily range from free-living and predatory in basal taxa to obligatory myrmecophily in derived Paussini. Adult Paussini are accepted in the ant society, although parasitising the colony by preying on ant brood. Host species mainly belong to the ant families Myrmicinae and Formicinae, but at least several paussine genera are not host-specific. Morphological adaptations, such as special glands and associated tufts of hair (trichomes), characterise Paussini as typical myrmecophiles and lead to two different strategical types of body shape: while certain Paussini rely on the protective type with less exposed extremities, other genera access ant colonies using glandular secretions and trichomes (symphile type). We compare these adaptations with other taxonomic groups of insects by joining contemporary research and early sources and discuss the possibility of an attracting or appeasing effect of the secretion. Species that are ignored by their host ants might use chemical mimicry instead. Furthermore, vibrational signals may contribute to ant–beetle communication, and chemical signals have proven to play a role in host finding. The powerful defense chemistry of paussines as “bombardier beetles” is not used in contact with host ants. We attempt to trace the evolution of myrmecophily in paussines by reviewing important aspects of the association between paussine beetles and ants, i.e. morphological and potential chemical adaptations, life cycle, host specificity, alimentation, parasitism and sound production.

Establishment of facultative sexuals

The existence of sex is one of the major unsolved problems in biology. We use computer simulations to model conditions in which sex may first become established. We develop an individual-based population model and show that a hypothetical facultative sex gene can fix, provided that the initial cost is low. It is demonstrated that the equilibrium fitness in the population increases with increasing population size and decreasing mutation rate. The probability of the establishment of the sex gene is found not to be directly related to the fitness difference between the asexual and sexual populations. This change in fitness on changing the parameters of the model is investigated.     

嫩江水体溶解氧变化规律的混沌研究

针对目前溶解氧研究主要是从生物、化学等方面开展,而对溶解氧自身变化规律的研究很少的特点,以嫩江干流浏园水文站测得的溶解氧质量浓度序列为例,首先进行相空间重构,应用自相关函数法确定出延迟时间、伪邻近点法确定出嵌入维数;然后应用主分量分析(PCA)方法对序列进行分析,表明该序列不是噪声序列而可能是混沌序列,通过计算Kolmogorov熵得出溶解氧质量浓度序列具有混沌特性的结论;最后应用基于关联度的局域加权线性回归预测法对该序列进行了混沌预测研究,得到了比较理想的预测结果,这为应用混沌理论进行溶解氧变化规律的研究提供了依据.     

平朔安太堡矿区复垦地土壤微生物与土壤性质关系的研究

调查安太堡大型露天矿区西排土场植被恢复与土壤微生物的关系.结果表明,土壤中微生物量与土壤中的水分、速效磷、土壤有机质、有效性氮和海拔高度有明显的关系.麦地、林地、草地的土壤中呈现出:细菌》放线菌》固氮菌》霉菌;撂荒地呈现为:细菌》放线菌》霉菌》固氮菌;裸地呈现出:细菌》放线菌》霉菌.细菌、放线菌和霉菌呈现麦地最高,裸地最低,固氮菌为林地高于其他样地.在撂荒地和裸地中,细菌占微生物总量的一半以上.麦地、林地、草地、撂荒地中的各种菌、速效磷、土壤有机质、有效性氮含量明显高于裸地中的含量.微生物总量和样地的海拔、样地土壤的含水率有明显的关系,土壤中的含水量直接影响微生物总量.微生物总量与速效磷含量和有机质含量成正比,有机质含量与有效性氮含量成正比.细菌与海拔呈极显著负相关,与其他几种养分指标呈极显著正相关,放线菌与海拔和速效磷呈极显著相关,与其他指标相关性不显著,固氮菌与几种养分指标相关性均不显著.按全国土壤养分划分标准,安太堡大型露天矿区复垦地等级不高,还需要用科学的方法加快复垦区土壤的恢复.     

石油化工行业可接受风险水平研究

石油化工行业存在着巨大的潜在风险,为了明确该行业的风险可接受水平,制定一个合理可行的可接受风险准则极为必要.本文在对国内外风险可接受水平研究的基础上,系统分析了国内外有关标准,对生命风险水平、经济风险水平和环境风险水平确定的基本思想进行了详尽阐述,分别给出了3种风险的可接受水平公式,提出了确定石化行业可接受风险水平的方法,需同时满足可接受生命风险、经济风险和环境风险.     

Choice of teenagers' vehicles and views on vehicle safety: survey of parents of novice teenage drivers

Objective

To examine parental decisions about vehicles driven by teenagers and parental knowledge of vehicle safety.

Methods

About 300 parents were interviewed during spring 2006 in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island while teenagers took their first on-road driving tests.

Results

Fewer than half of parents surveyed said teenagers would be the primary drivers of the chosen vehicles. Parents most often cited safety, existing family vehicle, and reliability when explaining the choices for their teenagers’ vehicles. About half of the vehicles intended for teenagers were small/mini/sports cars, pickups, or SUVs — vehicles considered less safe for teenagers than midsize/large cars or minivans. A large majority of vehicles were 2001 models or earlier. Vehicles purchased in anticipation of adding a new driver to the family were more likely to be the sizes/types considered less safe than vehicles already owned. Few parents insisted on side airbags or electronic stability control, despite strong evidence of their safety benefits. Even when asked to identify ideal vehicles for their teenagers to drive, about half of parents identified less safe vehicle sizes/types. Most parents knew that midsize/large vehicles are safer than small vehicles, and at least half of parents said SUVs and pickups are not safe for teenage drivers, citing instability.

Conclusions

The majority of parents understood some of the important criteria for choosing safe vehicles for their teenagers. However, parents actually selected many vehicles for teenagers that provide inferior crash protection.

Impact on industry

Vehicle safety varies substantially by vehicle size, type, and safety features. Many teenagers are driving inferior vehicles in terms of crashworthiness and crash avoidance.     

Secondary analysis of time of day on simulated driving performance

PROBLEM: Age and gender are frequently controlled for in studies of driving performance, but the effects of time of day or circadian cycles on performance are often not considered. Previous research on time of day effects of simulated driving is contradictory and provides little guidance for understanding the impact of these variables on results. METHODS: Using driving simulator data from 79 subjects ages 18 to 65, this paper focuses on the impact of age, gender, and time of day on the simulated driving performance of subjects who self-selected the time of participation. RESULTS: Time of day effects were consistently evident for drivers' speed overall and across different simulated environments. Drivers in the late afternoon period consistently drove significantly slower than drivers in other time periods. Age and gender affected speed such that women and those participants 50 and older tended to drive more slowly. Time of day also had an effect on reaction time and on speed variability measures. Gender did not have significant effects on reaction time or variability measures, but age effects were present. SUMMARY: Taken together, the results suggest that time of day effects should be considered as part of simulated driving performance, and that interactions between time of day and other variables, notably age, should be controlled for as part of future research. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Implications of these findings on current efforts for older driver testing are discussed.     

纳米TiO2催化臭氧化对松花江水中氨氮的影响

研究了以负载于陶粒、硅胶、沸石表面的纳米TiO₂作为催化剂时,催化臭氧化松花江水过程中氨氮浓度的变化.结果表明,在单独臭氧化过程中,氨氮浓度先升高后下降,反应30 min后的氨氮浓度与初始浓度相近.在以TiO₂/陶粒、TiO₂/硅胶为催化剂的催化臭氧化过程中,氨氮浓度也是先升高后下降,但反应过程中氨氮的平均浓度要高于单独臭氧化过程.以TiO₂/沸石为催化剂时,催化臭氧化过程中氨氮浓度先下降,然后略有升高,继而又下降,30 min时对氨氮的去除率接近80%.单独臭氧化和催化臭氧化过程中,增大臭氧投量,氨氮浓度最大值出现的时间提前,并且反应过程中氨氮浓度平均值降低.增大催化剂TiO₂/陶粒、TiO₂/硅胶的投量,催化臭氧化过程中氨氮浓度平均值升高.增大TiO₂/沸石投量,有利于氨氮的去除,但投量增大到50g以上时,对氨氮的去除效果影响很小.温度从10℃升高到30℃,对TiO₂/陶粒、TiO₂/硅胶催化臭氧化过程中氨氮浓度的变化影响不大.而以TiO₂/沸石为催化剂时,温度升高有利于催化臭氧化过程中氨氮的去除.     

沸石强化生化装置脱氮功能的效果及机理初探

针对石化工业废水开展沸石强化脱氮处理试验研究,通过比较沸石浓度25mg/L与空白,以及沸石浓度25 mg/L与50mg/L两阶段脱氮效果,探讨沸石促进脱氮功能的机理,结果表明,曝气池中投加沸石可明显提高氨氮和总氮的去除率,硝化细菌总数和硝化功能也得到增强。与空白对照组相比, 沸石浓度25mg/L的试验组运行稳定后,氨氮去除率提高约10%~13%,总氮去除率约提高13%,出水中NO3--N含量约提高100%,氨氮与总氮之比下降6%,内源硝化耗氧呼吸速率可提高138%,硝化细菌总数是空白对照组2.2folds。沸石浓度提高到50mg/L后,试验组的脱氮效果略有增加,但效果不明显。通过对试验结果的关联分析,认为沸石提高系统脱氮能力的原因一方面是因为沸石对NH4+及硝态氮的交换吸附,另一方面NH4+离子富集于沸石表面及内部、沸石颗粒独特的好氧-缺氧微环境,以及沸石离解出CO32- 或HCO3-增加碱度等条件,促进了硝化细菌和反硝化细菌的生长,从而提高了系统脱氮能力。     

臭氧/混凝预处理工艺降低膜污染的研究

采用臭氧和混凝工艺分别处理黄浦江原水后进行MF膜过滤试验,考察2种预处理工艺对有机物的作用,进而考察其对MF膜过滤特性的影响.结果表明,2种预处理工艺都存在一个使膜污染下降率达到最大的最佳投药量.2种预处理工艺中,混凝降低膜污染的效果要好于臭氧,这主要与2种预处理工艺所去除的有机物性质有关.黄浦江水中有机物相对分子质量主要集中在3×103～5×103范围内,膜化学清洗液的分析表明造成膜污染的有机物相对分子质量主要集中在4.5×103附近,臭氧对相对分子质量在3×103附近的有机物去除效果较好,而混凝主要去除5×103附近的较大相对分子质量的有机物,因而混凝对这部分污染膜物质的去除效果要好于臭氧,从而有效降低了膜污染.