Reduction of sera requirements in amniotic fluid cell culture

Reduction in serum requirement for culture of primary human amniotic fluid cells can be achieved by the addition of 10 growth-promoting factors to the nutrient medium. This supplemented medium preserves cell types normally found in amniotic fluid cell cultures supplemented with 20–30 per cent fetal bovine serum. The volume of amniotic fluid required to initiate culture can be as little as 1 ml. Amniotic fluid samples contaminated with red blood cells with no visible clot also grow well in the low serum medium. Cell-free amniotic fluid combined with equal parts of supplemented medium is useful in initiating cell culture.     

在降雨量极少的条件下日本琵琶湖北湖主要环境因子的动态变化和机理的研究(Ⅰ)(英文)

琵琶湖是日本第一大淡水湖,20世纪60年代以来,由于经济的发展,湖水水质逐步变坏。1977年湖的北部出现赤潮,1 983年湖的南部出现了湖泊富营养化的产物微囊藻。多年来,在深水区湖水温度分层情况下,叶绿素α或浮游植物主要分布在湖的表层。但在1 994年夏季降雨量极少的情况下,在深水区叶绿素α或浮游植物主要分布在温跃层的附近,这种现象在琵琶湖是罕见的。分析发现叶绿素的峰值在湖水温度分层时出现在温跃层的上部,而且底边界层同时出现了低溶氧和高浊度的现象。叶绿素α和溶氧、浊度的对应关系表明温跃层是一光合成活跃的区间。本文通过流体力学方程计算,结果表明随着温度的降低,粘滞力就会增加,在温跃层出现了随水深增加,粘滞力急剧增大的情况。由此可见颗粒物在温跃层顶的上部沉降速度比温跃层内快,因此颗粒物高浓度出现在温跃层内。计算结果同时发现,在水深10～20 m(对应于温跃层),分子扩散系数最小,一旦颗粒物进入这一区间就不易扩散出去。由于温跃层是一分子扩散系数小、粘滞力高的区间,所以温跃层是颗粒物和营养盐的富集区,出现了藻类和叶绿素浓度的峰值。     

在降雨量极少的条件下日本琵琶湖的环境因子的分布(英文)

琵琶湖是日本第一大淡水湖,20世纪60年代以来,由于经济的发展,湖水水质逐步变坏。1977年湖的北部出现赤潮,1983年湖的南部出现了湖泊富营养化的产物微囊藻。多年来,在深水区湖水温度分层情况下,叶绿素a或浮游植物主要分布在湖的表层(Tezuka,1984)。但在1994年夏季,降雨量极少的情况下,在深水区叶绿素a或浮游植物主要分布在温跃层附近,这种现象在琵琶湖是罕见的(Nakanishi,1995)。最近,琵琶湖北湖的藻类爆发显著增加了溶氧的消耗,导致了湖底层溶氧的减少。如果湖底层溶氧持续减少,底泥储存的磷就会释放到湖水中,从而加快湖泊富营养化的进程。本文分析了琵琶湖南北10个点1994年4月至1995年3月每月1次的常规观测资料,深入剖析了全湖物理化学参数的时空分布,不仅发现叶绿素的峰值在湖水温度分层时出现在温跃层的上部,而且湖底边界层同时出现了低溶氧和高浊度的现象。分析认为绿素a和溶氧、浊度的对应关系表明温跃层是一光合成活跃的区间。     

在降雨量极少的条件下日本琵琶湖北湖主要环境因子的动态变化和机理的研究(Ⅰ)

琵琶湖是日本第一大淡水湖,20世纪60年代以来,由于经济的发展,湖水水质逐步变坏.1977年湖的北部出现赤潮,1983年湖的南部出现了湖泊富营养化的产物微囊藻.多年来,在深水区湖水温度分层情况下,叶绿素α或浮游植物主要分布在湖的表层.但在1 994年夏季降雨量极少的情况下,在深水区叶绿素α或浮游植物主要分布在温跃层的附近,这种现象在琵琶湖是罕见的.分析发现叶绿素的峰值在湖水温度分层时出现在温跃层的上部,而且底边界层同时出现了低溶氧和高浊度的现象.叶绿素α和溶氧、浊度的对应关系表明温跃层是一光合成活跃的区间.本文通过流体力学方程计算,结果表明随着温度的降低,粘滞力就会增加,在温跃层出现了随水深增加,粘滞力急剧增大的情况.由此可见颗粒物在温跃层顶的上部沉降速度比温跃层内快,因此颗粒物高浓度出现在温跃层内.计算结果同时发现,在水深10～20 m(对应于温跃层),分子扩散系数最小,一旦颗粒物进入这一区间就不易扩散出去.由于温跃层是一分子扩散系数小、粘滞力高的区间,所以温跃层是颗粒物和营养盐的富集区,出现了藻类和叶绿素浓度的峰值.     

厌氧-准好氧型填埋的渗滤液实验研究

通过室内模拟试验，在渗滤液回灌的厌氧填埋柱基本进入稳定状态后，改用准好氧运行方式。同时监测了渗滤液中有机物浓度以压温度、pH值的变化。改变模拟垃圾柱的运行方式两个月以后。氨氯浓度由2000mg／L迅速下降至101．48mg／L，试验结果显示，准好氧运行方式可以解决生物反应器填埋场进入稳定阶段后存在的氨氮浓度高的问题，加速填埋场的稳定。     

EFFECTIVENESS OF POLYACRYLAMIDE (PAM) IN IMPROVING RUNOFF WATER QUALITY FROM CONSTRUCTION SITES1

ABSTRACT: Erosion from construction sites significantly affects water quality in receiving streams. A rainfall simulator was used to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods for controlling erosion from construction sites. Erosion control methods investigated included dry and liquid applications of polyacrylamide (PAM), hydroseed, and straw mulch. Fertilizer was also applied to each plot to examine the effectiveness of the methods in reducing nutrient losses in runoff. Runoff samples were analyzed for total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ammonium, total phosphorus (TP), and orthophosphate. Among all treatments investigated, straw mulch was the most effective treatment for controlling TSS and nutrient losses during short term and long term simulations. The low liquid PAM (half the recommended PAM) treatment resulted in the highest reduction in runoff, TSS bound nitrogen, and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations and loadings. The study results indicate that a high application rate (twice the recommended rate) of PAM could actually increase runoff and TSS losses. At a low application rate, both liquid and dry PAM were effective in reducing TSS and nutrient losses in runoff. However, application of the liquid form of PAM to construction sites is more practical and perhaps more economical than applying the PAM in the dry form.     

Trait space of rare plants in a fire‐dependent ecosystem

The causes of species rarity are of critical concern because of the high extinction risk associated with rarity. Studies examining individual rare species have limited generality, whereas trait‐based approaches offer a means to identify functional causes of rarity that can be applied to communities with disparate species pools. Differences in functional traits between rare and common species may be indicative of the functional causes of species rarity and may therefore be useful in crafting species conservation strategies. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies comparing the functional traits of rare species and co‐occurring common species. We measured 18 important functional traits for 19 rare and 134 common understory plant species from North Carolina's Sandhills region and compared their trait distributions to determine whether there are significant functional differences that may explain species rarity. Flowering, fire, and tissue‐chemistry traits differed significantly between rare and common, co‐occurring species. Differences in specific traits suggest that fire suppression has driven rarity in this system and that changes to the timing and severity of prescribed fire may improve conservation success. Our method provides a useful tool to prioritize conservation efforts in other systems based on the likelihood that rare species are functionally capable of persisting.     

Fine‐resolution conservation planning with limited climate‐change information

Climate‐change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation‐related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation‐planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk‐diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate‐change scenarios for carrying out fine‐resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk‐return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate‐change information and full climate‐change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate‐change forecasts such that the best possible risk‐return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate‐change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches.     

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

Performance of low temperature Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) catalyzed by mixed bacterial consortia

Microbial Fuel Cells(MFCs) are a promising technology for treating wastewater in a sustainable manner. In potential applications, low temperatures substantially reduce MFC performance. To better understand the effect of temperature and particularly how bioanodes respond to changes in temperature, we investigated the current generation of mixed-culture and pure-culture MFCs at two low temperatures, 10°C and 5°C. The results implied that the mixed-culture MFC sustainably performed better than the pure-culture(Shewanella) MFC at 10°C, but the electrogenic activity of anodic bacteria was substantially reduced at the lower temperature of 5°C. At 10°C, the maximum output voltage generated with the mixed-culture was 540–560 m V, which was 10%–15% higher than that of Shewanella MFCs. The maximum power density reached 465.3 ± 5.8 m W/m~2 for the mixed-culture at10°C, while only 68.7 ± 3.7 m W/m~2 was achieved with the pure-culture. It was shown that the anodic biofilm of the mixed-culture MFC had a lower overpotential and resistance than the pure-culture MFC. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed the prevalence of Geobacter and Pseudomonas rather than Shewanella in the mixed-culture anodic biofilm, which mitigated the increase of resistance or overpotential at low temperatures.