Detection, isolation, and identification of cadmium-resistant bacteria based on PCR-DGGE

This study focused on the screening of cadmium-resistant bacterial strains from Pb-Zn tailing. We investigated the diversity of microbial community inhabiting Dong-san-cha Pb-Zn tailing in Beijing, China, by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） of 16S rRNA gene of bacterial strain, and found two dominant strains in the DGGE profile. Using special culture media, we isolated two strong cadmium-resistant bacterial strains. On the basis of morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics, BIOLOG, and 16S rDNA sequencing, the two strains were identified as Bacillus cereus and Enterobacter cloacae. Minimal inhibitory concentrations （MICs） of heavy metals for the bacteria were determined. E. cloacae showed higher MIC values for heavy metals and a larger range of antibiotic resistance than B. cereus.     

Releasing characteristics of phosphorus and other substances during thermal treatment of excess sludge

The releasing characteristics of phosphorus,nitrogen compounds,organics,and some metal cations during thermal treatment of excess sludge were investigated.It was found that during heating not only phosphorus,but also nitrogen compounds,organics,and some metal cations could be released in abundance.The maximum orthophosphate (ortho-P) release of about 90 mg/L in concentration was observed at 50℃in 1 h.Except for volatile fatty acids (VFAs),comparatively little total nitrogen (TN),total organic carbon (TOC),and metal cations were released at the same time.Such results might favor further process of phosphorus recovery.VFAs were considerably released only at 50℃.Acetic,butyric,and propionic acid were the most abundant components in turn and their releasing profiles exhibited good linear relationship with time (R~2=0.9977,0.9624,and 0.8908,respectively).The concentrations of Mg~(2 ) and K~ increased with time and temperature during thermal treatment,but Ca~(2 ) decreased.The release of Mg~(2 ) and K~ agreed well with TP release (R~2=0.9892 and 0.9476,respectively).Temperature in the experimental range had very little impact on the linear relationships, especially of Mg~(2 ).Moreover,the parameter of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) was found to be an important factor for thermal sludge treatment as the released ortho-P and total phosphorus (TP) at 50℃increased more than one-fold when MLSS was increased from 4000 to 8000 mg/L.     

On-line enrichment and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmospheric particulates using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence as detector

Seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric particulates were determinated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector using direction injection and an on-line enrichment trap column.The method simplified the sample pretreatment,saved time and increased the efficiency.With the on-line trap column,PAHs were separated availably even underground injecting 1.0 ml sample with relatively high column efficiency.The recoveries of the seven PAHs were from 85% to 120% for spiked atmospheric particulate sample.The limit of detection was 15.3-39.6 ng/L (S/N=3.3).There were good linear correlations between the peak areas and concentrations of the seven kinds of PAHs in the range of 1-50 ng/ml with the correlation coefficients over 0.9970.Furthermore,it also indicated that the method is available to determine PAHs in atmospheric particulates well.     

Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic activities of boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2

Boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2 photocatalysts were synthesized using modified sol-gel reaction process and characterized by X- ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, particle size distribution （PSD）, diffuse reflectance spectra （DRS）, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET）. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated by monitoring the degradation of dye Acid Red B （ARB）. The results showed that the prepared photocatalysts were mixed oxides mainly consisting of titania, ceria, and boron oxide. The structure of TiO2 could be transformed from amorphous to anatase and then to rutile by increasing calcination temperature; the transformation being accompanied by the growth of particle size without any obvious change in phase structure of CeO2. The XPS of B1.6Ce1.0-TiO2 prepared at 500℃ showed that a few boron atoms were incorporated into titania and ceria lattice, whereas others existed as B2O3. Cerium ions existed in two states, Ce^3＋ and Ce^4＋, and the atomic ratio of Ce^3＋/Ce^4＋ was 1.86. When boron and cerium were doped, the UV-Vis adsorption band wavelength showed an obvious shift toward the visible range （〈526 nm）. As the atomic ratio of Ce/Ti increased to 1.0, the absorbance edge wavelength increased to 481 nm. The absorbance edge wavelength decreased for higher cerium doping levels （Ce/Ti=2.0）. The particles size ranged from 122 to 255 nm with a domain at 168 nm （39.4%）. The degradation of ARB dye indicated that the photocatalytic activities of boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2 were much higher than those of P25 （a standard TiO2 powder）. The activities increased as the boron doping increased, whereas decreased when the Ce/Ti atomic ratio was greater than 0.5. The optimum atomic ratio of B/Ti and Ce/Ti was 1.6 and 0.5, respectively.     

Removal of cadmium using MnO2 loaded D301 resin

MnO2 loaded weak basic anion exchange resin D301 （Anion exchange resin, macroreticular weak basic styrene） as adsorbent has been prepared and applied to the removal of cadmium. The adsorption characteristics have been investigated with respect to effect of pH, equilibrium isotherms, removal kinetic data, and interference of the coexisting ions. The results indicated that the Cd^2＋ could be efficiently removed using MnO2 loaded D301 resin in the pH range of 3-8 from aqueous solutions with the co-existence of high concentration of alkali and alkaline-earth metals ions. The saturate adsorption capacity of the Cd^2＋ was 77.88 mg/g. The adsorption process followed the pseudo first-order kinetics. The equilibrium data obtained in this study accorded excellently with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm.     

National contributions to global ecosystem values

Current conservation templates prioritize biogeographic regions with high intensity ecosystem values, such as exceptional species richness or threat. Intensity-based targets are an important consideration in global efforts, but they do not capture all available opportunities to conserve ecosystem values, including those that accrue in low intensity over large areas. We assess six globally-significant ecosystem values—intact wilderness, freshwater availability, productive marine environments, breeding habitat for migratory wildlife, soil carbon storage, and latitudinal potential for range shift in the face of climate change—to highlight opportunities for high-impact broadly-distributed contributions to global conservation. Nations can serve as a cohesive block of policy that can profoundly influence conservation outcomes. Contributions to global ecosystem values that exceed what is predicted by a nation's area alone, can give rise to countries with the capacity to act as ‘conservation superpowers’, such as Canada and Russia. For these conservation superpowers, a relatively small number of national policies can have environmental repercussions for the rest of the world.     

Examining the relationship between local extinction risk and position in range

Over half of globally threatened animal species have experienced rapid geographic range loss. Identifying the parts of species’ distributions most vulnerable to local extinction would benefit conservation planning. However, previous studies give little consensus on whether ranges decline to the core or edge. We built on previous work by using empirical data to examine the position of recent local extinctions within species’ geographic ranges, address range position as a continuum, and explore the influence of environmental factors. We aggregated point‐locality data for 125 Galliform species from across the Palearctic and Indo‐Malaya into equal‐area half‐degree grid cells and used a multispecies dynamic Bayesian occupancy model to estimate rates of local extinctions. Our model provides a novel approach to identify loss of populations from within species ranges. We investigated the relationship between extinction rates and distance from range edge by examining whether patterns were consistent across biogeographic realm and different categories of land use. In the Palearctic, local extinctions occurred closer to the range edge than range core in both unconverted and human‐dominated landscapes. In Indo‐Malaya, no pattern was found for unconverted landscapes, but in human‐dominated landscapes extinctions tended to occur closer to the core than the edge. Our results suggest that local and regional factors override general spatial patterns of recent local extinction within species’ ranges and highlight the difficulty of predicting the parts of a species’ distribution most vulnerable to threat.     

振动环境试验控制允差的剪裁应用

从工程应用的角度,本文分析讨论了GJB 150.16A对振动环境试验控制允差的要求。结果表明,GJB150.16A对控制允差的要求是灵活的,但是未规定RMS允差,容易造成过试验或欠试验,且对加速度谱密度的控制允差要求的表述存在着一定的模糊。文中给出了解决建议。     

Tropical amphibians in shifting thermal landscapes under land‐use and climate change

Land‐cover and climate change are both expected to alter species distributions and contribute to future biodiversity loss. However, the combined effects of land‐cover and climate change on assemblages, especially at the landscape scale, remain understudied. Lowland tropical amphibians may be particularly susceptible to changes in land cover and climate warming because many species have narrow thermal safety margins resulting from air and body temperatures that are close to their critical thermal maxima (CT_max). We examined how changing thermal landscapes may alter the area of thermally suitable habitat (TSH) for tropical amphibians. We measured microclimates in 6 land‐cover types and CT_max of 16 frog species in lowland northeastern Costa Rica. We used a biophysical model to estimate core body temperatures of frogs exposed to habitat‐specific microclimates while accounting for evaporative cooling and behavior. Thermally suitable habitat area was estimated as the portion of the landscape where species CT_max exceeded their habitat‐specific maximum body temperatures. We projected changes in TSH area 80 years into the future as a function of land‐cover change only, climate change only, and combinations of land‐cover and climate‐change scenarios representing low and moderate rates of change. Projected decreases in TSH area ranged from 16% under low emissions and reduced forest loss to 30% under moderate emissions and business‐as‐usual land‐cover change. Under a moderate emissions scenario (A1B), climate change alone contributed to 1.7‐ to 4.5‐fold greater losses in TSH area than land‐cover change only, suggesting that future decreases in TSH from climate change may outpace structural habitat loss. Forest‐restricted species had lower mean CT_max than species that occurred in altered habitats, indicating that thermal tolerances will likely shape assemblages in changing thermal landscapes. In the face of ongoing land‐cover and climate change, it will be critical to consider changing thermal landscapes in strategies to conserve ectotherm species.     

Efficacy of Two Lion Conservation Programs in Maasailand,Kenya

Lion (Panthera leo) populations are in decline throughout most of Africa. The problem is particularly acute in southern Kenya, where Maasai pastoralists have been spearing and poisoning lions at a rate that will ensure near term local extinction. We investigated 2 approaches for improving local tolerance of lions: compensation payments for livestock lost to predators and Lion Guardians, which draws on local cultural values and knowledge to mitigate livestock‐carnivore conflict and monitor carnivores. To gauge the overall influence of conservation intervention, we combined both programs into a single conservation treatment variable. Using 8 years of lion killing data, we applied Manski's partial identification approach with bounded assumptions to investigate the effect of conservation treatment on lion killing in 4 contiguous areas. In 3 of the areas, conservation treatment was positively associated with a reduction in lion killing. We then applied a generalized linear model to assess the relative efficacy of the 2 interventions. The model estimated that compensation resulted in an 87–91% drop in the number of lions killed, whereas Lion Guardians (operating in combination with compensation and alone) resulted in a 99% drop in lion killing. Eficacia de Dos Programas de Conservación de Leones en Maasailand, Kenia