Biodegradation of Polycaprolactone Powders Proposed as Reference Test Materials for International Standard of Biodegradation Evaluation Method

Polycaprolactone (PCL) powders were prepared from PCL pellets using a rotation mechanical mixer. PCL powders were separated by sieves with 60 and 120 meshes into four classes; 0–125 μm, 125–250 μm, 0–250 μm and 250–500 μm. Biodegradation tests of PCL powders and cellulose powders in an aqueous solution at 25°C were performed using the coulometer according to ISO 14851. Biodegradation tests of PCL powders and cellulose powders in controlled compost at 58°C were performed by the Mitsui Chemical Analysis and Consulting Service, Inc. according to ISO 14855-1 and by using the Microbial Oxidative Degradation Analyzer (MODA) instrument according to ISO/DIS 14855-2. PCL powders were faster biodegraded than cellulose powders. The reproducibility of biodegradation of PCL powders is excellent. Differences in the biodegradation of PCL powders with different class were not observed by the ISO 14851 and ISO/DIS 14855-2. An enzymatic degradation test of PCL powders with different class was studied using an enzyme of Amano Lipase PS. PCL with smaller particle size was faster degraded by the enzyme. PCL powders with regulated sizes from 125 μm to 250 μm are proposed as a reference material for the biodegradation test.     

Coordinating a group departure: who produces the piping signals on honeybee swarms?

A swarm of honeybees provides a striking example of an animal group performing a synchronized departure for a new location; in this case, thousands of bees taking off at once to fly to a new home. However, the means by which this is achieved remain unclear. Shortly before takeoff, one hears a crescendo of a high-pitched mechanical signal—worker piping—so we explored the role of this signal in coordinating a swarm’s mass takeoff. Specifically, we examined whether exclusively nest site scouts produce the worker piping signal or whether it is produced in a relay or chain reaction fashion. We found no evidence that bees other than the scouts that have visited the swarm’s chosen nest site produce piping signals. This absence of relay communication in piping suggests that it is a signal that only primes swarms for takeoff and that the release of takeoff is triggered by some other signal or cue; perhaps the takeoff of bees on the swarm periphery as they reach flight temperature in response to piping.     

Disease prevention and resistance in social insects: modeling the survival consequences of immunity,hygienic behavior,and colony organization

Understanding the origin of disease resistance in social insects is difficult due to the lack of well-established phylogenies of presocial and eusocial species and the absence of extant basal and intermediate forms. Moreover, comprehensive accounts of infection-control traits in social insect lineages are not available. Therefore, to explore the evolution of pathogen control in social insects we used cellular automata models to analyze the efficacy of immunity and nest hygiene, which we assumed were basal traits, and allogrooming, which likely followed the transition to eusociality, and their interactions with colony demography and patterns of worker spatial distribution. Models showed that nest hygiene provided an immediate survival benefit and that immunity lowered overall disease susceptibility under both constant and periodic exposure scenarios. Allogrooming increased survivorship in chronically challenged colonies but also increased pathogen transmission rates under conditions of periodic exposure. Colonies having demographies biased towards young or old individuals had slightly higher mortality than those with heterogeneous demographies. The distribution of older individuals relative to the nest center had no significant effect on susceptibility and provided only a minor survival advantage. Models indicated that nest hygiene and immunity function on different temporal scales and can interact with demography to lower disease risks. Our results suggest how infection control systems in social insects could have been built upon the inducible immune defenses and nest hygienic behaviors of solitary and presocial ancestors and served as important preadaptations to manage disease exposure and transmission in colonies of eusocial species.     

植物种类与水力负荷对人工湿地去除污染物的交互作用

人工湿地去污效能不仅受水力负荷(HL)影响,还与植物种类有关。为研究这2种因素对污染物去除的交互作用,根据植物根系长度,分别构建短根型、中根型及长根型植物潜流人工湿地中试系统,在运行稳定后,考察不同植物种类在不同水力负荷(152、230、305和460 mm/d)下的去污效果。结果表明:植物种类对COD去除率的影响差别不显著,对氮磷去除率有显著影响,且去除率符合长根型 > 中根型 > 短根型;水力负荷对COD、TN、NH4+-N和TP的去除均有显著影响,随着水力负荷减小去除率均逐渐升高;植物种类与水力负荷的交互作用对各污染物去除率均有显著影响,且受水力负荷影响较大,TN、NH4+-N的去除在水力负荷较小时交互作用较明显,COD去除的最优HL为230 mm/d。因此,在人工湿地设计时应考虑植物种类与水力负荷的交互作用。     

雨水管道沉积物对径流初期冲刷的影响

为了避免汇水面源头以及分流制雨水管道系统中沉积的大量污染物在降雨时随雨水径流被冲刷进入水体,从而控制径流对水环境构成的冲击性污染,从理论和试验2方面分析了管道径流污染物(汇水面和管道沉积物2个来源)的流失规律.结果表明,汇水面源头污染物流失较符合源头冲刷的指数衰减模型,管道内沉积物流失可用流量曲线模型计算;管道内沉积物占管道径流污染物的比例越大,管道径流的初期冲刷现象越不明显.为了提高径流污染控制设施的效率,宜在源头进行分散控制,并加强雨水管网系统清洁维护,避免污染物的积累.     

Trophic variation with length in two ommastrephid squids, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ommastrephes bartramii</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis</Emphasis>

From 1998 to 2001 a total of 200 Ommastrephes bartramii (27 paralarvae) and 170 Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (14 paralarvae) were sampled from the Central North Pacific. One group of non-paralarval O. bartramii (n = 30) was sampled from farther northwest in 1996. The δ¹⁵N of mantle muscle of non-paralarval O. bartramii ( = 12.4‰) was significantly greater than that of non-parlarval S. oualaniensis ( = 8.1‰) (P < 0.001). The δ¹⁵N of whole paralarvae of O. bartramii ( = 6.4‰) was not significantly different than parlarvalae of S. oualaniensis ( = 6.1‰) (P = 0.528). There was no significant difference between the mantle muscle δ¹⁵N values of male (n = 95, = 13.3‰) and female (n = 18, = 12.9 ‰) O. bartramii greater than 300 mm mantle length (ML) (P = 0.15). There was also no significant difference between the mantle muscle δ¹⁵N values of male (n = 15, = 7.2‰) and female (n = 26, = 7.3 ‰) S. oualaniensis in the same size range (P = 0.41). Overall there was a distinct logistic increase in δ¹⁵N with mantle length for O. bartramii, whereas S. oualaniensis showed an exponential increase in δ¹⁵N with mantle length that was stronger within individual years than with all samples combined. In general, adult O. bartramii are more than a trophic level above S. oualaniensis (4.3‰, 1.3 TLs). Because of the nature of the sampling protocol, this study could not separate spatial and temporal effects on the δ¹⁵N signals from each squid species. This study demonstrates the ability of stable isotope analyses to differentiate trophic levels between squid species as well as track trophic changes across size ranges from paralarvae to adults. Additional research is needed to validate these trophic changes across size within individuals.     

污泥减量化与资源化研究进展

随着污水处理量增加,污泥的产生量也日益巨大.如何使污泥无害化、减量化和资源化已越来越受人们的关注.针对目前传统污泥处理与处置方法存在的问题,重点介绍了近年来污泥减量化和资源化的处理技术,并分析了新技术研究情况和应用前景,为污泥合理处理与处置提供参考.     

长期饲喂钬对鲤鱼非特异性免疫酶活性的影响

以鲤鱼为研究对象,进行为期60 d的饲喂试验,研究了硝酸钬对其非特异性免疫的影响。结果表明:与对照组相比,在实验剂量范围内,超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)在肝脏中呈先升高后降低的趋势,SOD、GSH-Px酶活性在20 mg·kg~(-1)时,升高显著(P0.05),三者在65 mg·kg~(-1)时都被显著抑制(P0.05);在肾中都被诱导,在65 mg·kg~(-1)升高显著(P0.05)。肝肾中丙二醛(MDA)含量都变化不显著(P0.05)。抗超氧阴离子自由基、抑制羟自由基能力和单胺氧化酶(MAO)活性都降低,且在65 mg·kg~(-1)时降低显著(P0.05或P0.01)。因此,在饲料中添加稀土元素钬20、42、65 mg·kg~(-1),能够影响非特异性免疫力,且鲤鱼肝组织比肾脏反应更敏感。     

高活性絮凝剂产生菌群的构建、培养及应用研究

从筛选到的絮凝剂产生菌中构建出能比单一菌群产生更高絮凝活性的复合菌群———复合菌群1(BAFRT4+CYGS1).为降低复合菌群1的培养成本,尝试用啤酒废水替代葡萄糖作为培养基中的碳源和能源并获得成功.在优化培养条件下,复合菌群1所产MBF的絮凝活性达96.8%.复合菌群1所产MBF对靛蓝印染废水有良好的处理效果,最大CODCr去除率和脱色率分别达79.2%和87.6%.     

中空纤维微滤膜污染及阻力分析

选用0．1μm的PVDF中空纤维内压式微滤膜组件，在死端微滤工况下，研究了酵母（平均粒径5．3μm）和高岭土（平均粒径0．7μm）体系在浓度和压力变化时的污染机理及过滤阻力、膜渗透通量的变化规律性。通过恒压堵塞定律积分式的具体形式与实验数据的拟合及根据堵塞过滤定律计算的结果都表明：死端微滤时，酵母体系和高岭土体系均符合滤饼过滤机理。