Sex pheromone of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ectinus aterrimus</Emphasis> (L<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">inné</Emphasis>, 1761) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Summary.   Ectinus aterrimus (L.) is a fairly common European click beetle species which develops mainly in forests. In pheromone gland extracts of female E. aterrimus, examined using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS), one single compound was present. This was identified as 7-methyloctyl 9-methyldecanoate by comparison with a synthetic sample. Field trapping trials revealed a highly significant attraction of male E. aterrimus towards this ester. The structure of the compound differs remarkably from the pheromones of the closely related Agriotes spp., which exclusively use terpene esters.     

Progress and challenges in consolidating the management of Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories

Effective management refers to the ability of a protected area or indigenous territory to meet its objectives, particularly as they relate to the protection of biodiversity and forest cover. Effective management is achieved through a process of consolidation, which among other things requires legally protecting sites, integrating sites into land‐use planning, developing and implementing management and resource‐use plans, and securing long‐term funding to pay for recurrent costs. Effectively managing all protected areas and indigenous territories in the Amazon may be needed to avoid a deforestation tipping point beyond which regional climatic feedbacks and global climate change interact to catalyze irreversible drying and savannization of large areas. At present, protected areas and indigenous territories cover 45.5% (3.55 million km²) of the Amazon, most of the 60–70% forest cover required to maintain hydrologic and climatic function. Three independent evaluations of a long‐term large‐scale philanthropic initiative in the Amazon yielded insights into the challenges and advances toward achieving effective management of protected areas and indigenous territories. Over the life of the initiative, management of sites has improved considerably, particularly with respect to management planning and capacity building, but few sites are effectively managed and many lack sufficient long‐term financing, adequate governance, support of nongovernmental organizations, and the means to withstand economic pressures. The time and money required to complete consolidation is still poorly understood, but it is clear that philanthropic funding is critical so long as essential funding needs are not met by governments and other sources, which could be on the order of decades. Despite challenges, it is encouraging that legal protection has expanded greatly and management of sites is improving steadily. Management of protected areas in other developing countries could be informed by improvements that have occurred in Amazonian countries.     

Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

熔池高度对双辊薄带凝固组织影响的模拟预测

在已建立的理论数学模型的基础上,以1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢为研究对象,模拟预测了薄带厚度保持不变条件下熔池高度对薄带凝固组织的影响。研究结果表明:随着熔池高度增加,1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢双辊薄带凝固组织中柱状晶区比例首先增大,然后又逐渐减小。而柱状枝晶取向度和枝晶间距则随着熔池高度的增加而增大,但在较低的熔池高度条件下,柱状枝晶间距在凝固结束时有突然增大的趋势。     

Genotoxicity of chromium in vitro on yeast: Interaction with DNA†

The genotoxicity of chromium chloride was investigated in cells of D₇ strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae harvested either from logarithmic or stationary growth phase.

A weak induction of mifotic gene conversion and point reverse mutation was obtained when the incubations were performed using phosphate buffer. No genetic effect was observed when the incubations were performed using Tris‐HCl buffer.

The experiments with ⁵¹Cr radiotracer demonstrated that Cr³⁺ ion enters the yeast cells and binds to DNA even if the incubation mixture was performed with Tris HCl buffer. This behaviour could be due to the highest concentration of CrCl₃ that cause some damages to cytoplasmatic membrane.     

Design training and aesthetic evaluation: An intergroup comparison

A number of studies have observed differences in the evaluation of visual, aesthetic stimuli between those with and without professional training in art and design. If exposure to design training underlies such differences it follows that evidence of training effects should be observable when comparing subjects at different stages of design training, and not observable when comparing subjects at different stages of non-design training. In addition, this evidence should be consistent with directional predictions. The study reported in this paper investigated this question using a sample of 192 trained and untrained subjects in an evaluative task. Subjects were from two departments (Design and Computer Studies) of the same educational establishment and comprised balanced groups of lecturers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students. The results obtained demonstrated evaluative differences and patterns of association both within and between the subject groups consistent with a training hypothesis.     

C9-AA水溶性石油树脂的制备及其阻垢性能

以乙烯生产过程中的副产物C9馏分和丙烯酸为原料,采用自由基溶液聚合,合成具有阻垢性能的C9-AA水溶性石油树脂。考察了引发剂AIBN和溶剂的加入量、C9-AA加入量、Ca^2＋浓度、循环冷却水pH和养护时间对C9-AA水溶性石油树脂阻垢性能的影响,并对其阻垢效果进行了评价。在Ca^2＋质量浓度小于或等于600mg／L、循环冷却水pH小于或等于9．3、C9-AA水溶性石油树脂加入量大于或等于15mg／L的条件下,C9—AA水溶性石油树脂对循环冷却水的阻垢率达到90％以上,其有效作用时间为60h。     

液化天然气储罐9％镍钢焊缝相控阵AUT工艺

9％镍钢液化天然气储罐制造安装过程中,焊缝检验通常用常规射线照相（RT）进行。本文研讨用相控阵半自动超声检测（AUT）取代射线照相的工艺制定及验证方法。要领分四步：首先带缺陷专用焊接试样的制备;然后相控阵AUT工艺的编制;其次在有已知缺陷的焊接试样上,对AUTT艺作“开放性”验证试验;最后在现场对整个数据采集系统作“封闭性”操作演示和验证评定试验。验证结果表明相控阵AUT取代RT可行可靠,能凸显AUT种种优势。