Measuring biological diversity

The diversity of a set of species refers to the joint dissimilarity of the species in the set. This paper discusses the measurement of diversity from the set of pairwise distances between the species in the set. A measure called the effective number of species is developed from a non-parametric probability inequality and is shown to have a simple interpretation in terms of comparing linear experiments.     

投加混凝剂活性污泥法优选混凝剂试验研究

选取五种常用无机混凝剂,把活性污泥与生活污水按一定比例混合后,进行混凝试验,结果表明,三氯化铁去除TP的效果最好,在投加量为99 mg/l时,可去除污水中88%的TP。三种混凝剂FeCl3、PFS、PAFC与PAM复合进行参数优化的正交试验,对TP有最佳处理效果的絮凝条件为：投加FeCl3,投加量为99 mg/l,投加顺序为FeCl3先投加1 min,以污泥恰搅起不分层的速度搅拌（约160 r/min）30 min。试验结果对投加混凝剂活性污泥法选择合适的混凝剂有借鉴作用。     

Extending the Dewanji and Kalbfleisch model to incorporate marker data

The model of Dewanji and Kalbfleisch for the estimation of time to tumour onset from a serial-sacrifice experiment is extended to include a marker state prior to the onset of the tumour. There are two versions of the model, one where a tumour is allowed to develop without the onset of marker, the other where a tumour develops after the marker but in which the marker later becomes unobservable.     

Geese and dietary allelochemicals — food palatability and geophagy

Summary The palatability of plants was studied in young, immature and adult geese of three species,Anser anser, Anser indicus andBranta canadensis, with respect to secondary plant metabolites. In their first 1–4 weeks of life, hand-reared goslings feed on a wide variety of plants, more or less irrespective of their allelochemical contents. Older birds become more selective, but still consume plants which are normally considered to be unpalatable or even toxic for other animals. Choice experiments were performed with pure secondary metabolites which were offered on otherwise highly palatable food items, such as leaves ofTaraxacum officinale. These experiments revealed a similar trend, in that very young goslings discriminate their food much less than older goslings or adult geese. In general, food contaminated with essential oils was rejected, whereas alkaloids, glycosides, amines and sulfur compounds were tolerated to a remarkable degree. In consequence, especially young, but also adult geese must have a high capacity to tolerate and/or to detoxify dietary allelochemicals. Another detoxification mechanism became evident during the experiments: geese ingest soil and mud quite regularly. It could be shown experimentally that the respective soil had a high capacity to bind alkaloids. We assume that geophagy is a means (besides a presumed active detoxification in the liver) to adsorb and thus reduce the contents of dietary allelochemicals.     

Solute transport in crystalline rocks at Äspö — I: Geological basis and model calibration

Water-conducting faults and fractures were studied in the granite-hosted Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (SE Sweden). On a scale of decametres and larger, steeply dipping faults dominate and contain a variety of different fault rocks (mylonites, cataclasites, fault gouges). On a smaller scale, somewhat less regular fracture patterns were found. Conceptual models of the fault and fracture geometries and of the properties of rock types adjacent to fractures were derived and used as input for the modelling of in situ dipole tracer tests that were conducted in the framework of the Tracer Retention Understanding Experiment (TRUE-1) on a scale of metres. After the identification of all relevant transport and retardation processes, blind predictions of the breakthroughs of conservative to moderately sorbing tracers were calculated and then compared with the experimental data. This paper provides the geological basis and model calibration, while the predictive and inverse modelling work is the topic of the companion paper [J. Contam. Hydrol. 61 (2003) 175].The TRUE-1 experimental volume is highly fractured and contains the same types of fault rocks and alterations as on the decametric scale. The experimental flow field was modelled on the basis of a 2D-streamtube formalism with an underlying homogeneous and isotropic transmissivity field. Tracer transport was modelled using the dual porosity medium approach, which is linked to the flow model by the flow porosity. Given the substantial pumping rates in the extraction borehole, the transport domain has a maximum width of a few centimetres only. It is concluded that both the uncertainty with regard to the length of individual fractures and the detailed geometry of the network along the flowpath between injection and extraction boreholes are not critical because flow is largely one-dimensional, whether through a single fracture or a network. Process identification and model calibration were based on a single uranine breakthrough (test PDT3), which clearly showed that matrix diffusion had to be included in the model even over the short experimental time scales, evidenced by a characteristic shape of the trailing edge of the breakthrough curve. Using the geological information and therefore considering limited matrix diffusion into a thin fault gouge horizon resulted in a good fit to the experiment. On the other hand, fresh granite was found not to interact noticeably with the tracers over the time scales of the experiments.While fracture-filling gouge materials are very efficient in retarding tracers over short periods of time (hours–days), their volume is very small and, with time progressing, retardation will be dominated by altered wall rock and, finally, by fresh granite. In such rocks, both porosity (and therefore the effective diffusion coefficient) and sorption K_ds are more than one order of magnitude smaller compared to fault gouge, thus indicating that long-term retardation is expected to occur but to be less pronounced.     

Distinct potential aerosol masses under different scenarios of transport at a suburban site of Beijing

In order to evaluate the secondary aerosol formation potential at a suburban site of Beijing,in situ perturbation experiments in a potential aerosol mass(PAM) reactor were carried out in the winter of 2014.The variations of secondary aerosol formation as a function of time,OH exposure,and the concentrations of gas phase pollutants and particles were reported in this study.Two periods with distinct secondary aerosol formation potentials,marked as Period Ⅰ and Period Ⅱ,were identified during the observation.In Period Ⅰ,the secondary aerosol formation potential was high,and correlated well to the air pollutants,i.e.,SO_2,NO_2,and CO.The maximal secondary aerosol formation was observed with an aging time equivalent to about 3 days of atmospheric oxidation.In period Ⅱ,the secondary aerosol formation potential was low,with no obvious correlation with the air pollutants.Meanwhile,the aerosol mass decreased,instead of showing a peak,with increasing aging time.Backward trajectory analysis during the two periods confirmed that the air mass in Period Ⅰwas mainly from local sources,while it was attributed mostly to long distance transport in Period Ⅱ.The air lost its reactivity during the long transport and the particles became highly aged,resulting in a low secondary aerosol formation potential.Our experimental results indicated that the in situ measurement of the secondary aerosol formation potential could provide important information for evaluating the contributions of local emission and long distance transport to the aerosol pollution.     

A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Animal Experiments with Guidelines for Reporting

To maximize the findings of animal experiments to inform likely health effects in humans, a thorough review and evaluation of the animal evidence is required. Systematic reviews and, where appropriate, meta-analyses have great potential in facilitating such an evaluation, making efficient use of the animal evidence while minimizing possible sources of bias. The extent to which systematic review and meta-analysis methods have been applied to evaluate animal experiments to inform human health is unknown. Using systematic review methods, we examine the extent and quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of in vivo animal experiments carried out to inform human health. We identified 103 articles meeting the inclusion criteria: 57 reported a systematic review, 29 a systematic review and a meta-analysis, and 17 reported a meta-analysis only. The use of these methods to evaluate animal evidence has increased over time. Although the reporting of systematic reviews is of adequate quality, the reporting of meta-analyses is poor. The inadequate reporting of meta-analyses observed here leads to questions on whether the most appropriate methods were used to maximize the use of the animal evidence to inform policy or decision-making. We recommend that guidelines proposed here be used to help improve the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of animal experiments. Further consideration of the use and methodological quality and reporting of such studies is needed.     

逐级提取试验研究岩石中氟的化学活动性

使用逐级化学提取方法对岩石中氟元素的化学活动性进行了研究.结果表明,不同时代、不同类型岩石中氟的化学活动性具有很大的差异,碳酸盐岩中氟均具有很强的化学活动性,其中氟的可淋失比例一般高于75%;下寒武统黑色岩系中氟的化学活动性与岩石变质程度有关,变质程度较高的黑色碳质板岩中氟的可淋失比例一般小于黑色页岩、黑色硅质岩中氟的可淋失比例.磷块岩中氟的可淋失比例较高,而千枚岩中氟的可淋失比例一般较低;辉绿岩中氟的可淋失比例与原岩中氟含量存在正相关关系.不同时代的石煤中氟的化学活动性具有较大差异.下志留统石煤中氟的可淋失比例(平均为47.39%)一般高于下寒武统石煤中氟的可淋失比例(平均为29.43%).     

The effect of a biofilm on solute diffusion in fractured porous media

At sites in fractured rock where contamination has been exposed to the rock matrix for extended periods of time, the amount of contaminant mass residing in the matrix can be considerable. Even though it may be possible to diminish concentrations by the advection of clean water through the fracture features, back diffusion from mass held in the matrix will lead to a continuing source of contamination. In such an event, the development of a biofilm (a thin film of microbial mass) on the wall of the fractures may act to limit or prevent the back diffusion process. The objective of this preliminary study is to explore the influence imparted by the presence of a biofilm on the process of matrix diffusion. The investigation was conducted using radial diffusion cells constructed from rock core in which biofilm growth was stimulated in a central reservoir. Once biofilms were developed, forward diffusion experiments were conducted in which a conservative solute migrated from the central reservoir into the intact rock sample. Diffusion experiments were performed in a total of 11 diffusion cell pairs where biofilm growth was stimulated in one member of the pair and inhibited in the other. The effect of the presence of a biofilm on tracer diffusion was determined by comparison of the diffusion curves produced by each cell pair. A semi-analytical model that accounts for the presence of a biofilm was used to investigate the effect of the biofilm on mass transfer due to changes in the effective porosity, effective diffusion coefficient, and the depth of penetration of the biofilm into the intact rock. The results show that the biofilm acted to plug the rock matrix, rather than forming a discrete layer on the reservoir surface. The reduction in effective porosity due to the biofilm ranged from 6% to 52% with the majority of the samples in the 30% to 50% range. Based on the present results, with more efficient biofilm stimulation, it is reasonable to assume that a more complete plugging of the microcrack porosity might be possible, leaving a much thicker and efficient barrier than could be achieved via a surface biofilm.     

3种地被竹对重金属复合污染农田土壤的修复潜力

选用菲黄竹、箬竹和鹅毛竹这3种地被竹在Cu、Zn、Cd和Pb复合污染农田上进行为期2 a的田间试验,分析其在污染条件下的生长富集特征,并结合土壤中重金属含量变化情况,对比3种地被竹对重金属复合污染的修复潜力.结果表明,菲黄竹在重金属复合污染农田上适应性最好,生长株数为种植时的63.8倍.3种地被竹体内重金属含量均集中在根部,且对Cd的富集效果最好,对Pb的富集能力最差.3个竹种的根部和鞭部的Cd富集系数均远大于1,其中菲黄竹和箬竹根部富集系数分别为17.68和14.63.重金属累积量则主要集中在根部和鞭部,其中菲黄竹对Cu、Zn和Cd的累积量分别为157.14、363.3和7.18 g·hm^-2,高于鹅毛竹和箬竹.种植2 a后,地被竹周围表层土壤中重金属含量较种植前均有下降,其中Cd含量下降最多,为39.6%~40.4%.此外,菲黄竹和鹅毛竹根际土壤中Cu、Zn和Cd含量均显著小于表层土壤（P<0.05）.试验证明,3种地被竹对Cd均有较强富集能力,可作为Cd修复植物继续深入研究;菲黄竹在生长状况、重金属富集量和累积量等方面均优于箬竹和鹅毛竹,对土壤重金属复合污染修复潜力最高.