Historical and geographical aspects of the increasing perfluorooctanoate and perfluorooctane sulfonate contamination in human serum in Japan

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) have recently received attention due to their widespread contamination in the environment, as well as in wildlife and humans. We measured the PFOS and PFOA concentrations in historically recorded human serum samples at an age range between 20 and 59 years collected in Kyoto, 20 persons per each time point (n=100), and also the PFOS and PFOA concentrations in human serum samples at an age range between 20 and 59 years from 10 locations throughout Japan (n=200). The historical samples collected from 1983 to 1999 demonstrated that the PFOA concentrations in males and females from Kyoto have increased 4.4-fold and 4.3-fold at a rate of increase of 0.49 ng/ml/year and 0.42 ng/ml/year, respectively. In contrast, serum concentrations of PFOS reached a plateau in the late 1980s. There are also regional differences in both the PFOS and PFOA serum concentrations. The concentrations in serum [geometric mean (geometric standard deviation)] (ng/ml) in 2003-2004 ranged from 7.6(1.6) in the town of Matsuoka in Fukui prefecture to 27.8(1.6) in Kyoto city, and ranged from 2.3(1.5) in Matsuoka to 14.5(1.3) in Osaka city for PFOS and PFOA, respectively.     

Groundwater Modeling in Agricultural Watershed under Different Recharge and Discharge Scenarios for Quaternary Aquifer Eastern Nile Delta,Egypt

Different scenarios of recharge and discharge were assessed for sustainable management of groundwater in Quaternary aquifer east of Nile Delta. MODFLOW was utilized to investigate the effect of land use change and damming construction in the upstream of the Nile River on the current and short-term groundwater management strategies. The interpretive transient simulation was performed between 2004 and 2016 after steady-state calibration in 2004, and transient state from 2004 to 2013 with different irrigation recharges associated with land use change in this period. Sensitivity analysis was performed for hydraulic conductivities, recharge, and conductance parameters. The predictive transient simulation was run till 2023 under three scenarios of increasing pumping rates by 15, 30, and 50% for agriculture expansion and specified head reduction of Port Said Canal by 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 m associated with the reduction of Nile water levels after Grand Ethiopian Residence Dam, GERD operation in 2017. Results from the in- and out-flow budgets showed that groundwater aquifer is stable at the current rate of pumping till 2023. Groundwater heads decreased by 0.2 and 0.42 m in the southern section, and a slight increase in the northern part was noticed for the first and second scenarios, respectively. When additional pumping stress is applied (50% increase), groundwater head dropped by 0.66 m, and the storage is no longer able to maintain the aquifer capacity after 2020 (worst-case scenario).     

Model prediction on the rise of pCO2 in uniform flows by leakage of CO2 purposefully stored under the seabed

A numerical study was conducted to predict pCO₂ change in the ocean on a continental shelf by the leakage of CO₂, which is originally stored in the aquifer under the seabed, in the case that a large fault connects the CO₂ reservoir and the seabed by an earthquake or other diastrophism. The leakage rate was set to be 6.025 × 10⁻⁴ kg/m²/sec from 2 m × 100 m fault band, which corresponds to 3800 t-CO₂/year, referring to the monitored seepage rate from an existing EOR field. The target space in this study was limited to the ocean above the seabed, the depth of which was 200 or 500 m. The computational domain was idealistically rectangular with the seabed fault-band perpendicular to the uniform flow. The CO₂ takes a form of bubbles or droplets, depending on the depth of water, and their behaviour and dissolution were numerically simulated during their rise in seawater flow. The advection–diffusion of dissolved CO₂ was also simulated. As a result, it was suggested that the leaked CO₂ droplets/bubbles all dissolve in the seawater before spouting up to the atmosphere, and that the increase in pCO₂ in the seawater was smaller than 500 μ atm.     

增强企业内安全培训能力对策研究

依据中日合作项目《加强中国安全生产科学技术能力计划》成果,对比分析了中日对企业安全培训相关法规要求,明确了各自的优点、缺点,提出通过开展企业内安全培训负责人培训可增强企业内安全培训能力,并在宁波进行了试点。提出应当重视企业内安全培训工作,对生产经营单位安全培训规定进行修改,制定配套实施细则和办法,开展企业内安全培训负责人培训、把班组长培训制度化、充分利用外部培训机构等增强企业内安全培训能力的对策和建议。     

Projections of industrial water withdrawal under shared socioeconomic pathways and climate mitigation scenarios

We estimated global future industrial water withdrawal (IWW) by considering socioeconomic driving forces, climate mitigation, and technological improvements, and by using the output of the Asia–Pacific Integrated Model/Computable General Equilibrium (AIM/CGE) model. We carried out this estimation in three steps. First, we developed a sector- and region-specific regression model for IWW. The model utilized and analyzed cross-country panel data using historical statistics of IWW for 10 sectors and 42 countries. Second, we estimated historical IWW by applying a regression model. Third, we projected future IWW from the output of AIM/CGE. For future projections, we considered and included multiple socioeconomic assumptions, namely different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) with and without climate mitigation policy. In all of the baseline scenarios, IWW was projected to increase throughout the twenty-first century, but growth through the latter half of the century is likely to be modest mainly due to the effects of decreased water use intensity. The projections for global total IWW ranged from 461 to 1,560 km³/year in 2050 and from 196 to 1,463 km³/year in 2100. The effects of climate mitigation on IWW were both negative and positive, depending on the SSPs. We attributed differences among scenarios to the balance between the choices of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and renewable energy. A smaller share of CCS was accompanied by a larger share of non-thermal renewable energy, which requires a smaller amount of water withdrawal per unit of energy production. Renewable energy is, therefore, less water intensive than thermal power with CCS with regard to decarbonizing the power system.     

Distribution of final stage phyllosoma larvae and free-swimming pueruli of Panulirus japonicus around the Kuroshio Current off southern Kyusyu, Japan

The distribution of the phyllosoma larvae and free-swimming pueruli of the Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus (von Siebold, 1824) has been studied off the south coast of Kyusyu Island. From 1992 to 1995, four research cruises were conducted on board the R.V. “Yoko-maru”. Cruises were mainly carried out over the new moon period between June and August along transect lines that cross the Kuroshio Current. In total, 89 later stage Form F phyllosoma (body lengths ≥20 mm) and 43 free-swimming pueruli of P. japonicus were caught; 94.4% of the later stage phyllosoma larvae were in the final stage. The phyllosoma were distributed widely in and south of the Kuroshio Current, where high-salinity (34.8) water exists at depths below about 80 m. Highest densities of the final phyllosoma larvae were observed in or near the  Kuroshio Current, and molting to the puerulus stage also occurred in the same area. Free-swimming pueruli were mainly sampled in and north of the Current. It is suggested that the pueruli of P. japonicus swim across the Kuroshio Current to settle in coastal areas. Received: 9 December 1996 / Accepted: 25 September 1998     

Sustainable watershed management: an international multi-watershed case study

Global freshwater resources are being increasingly polluted and depleted, threatening sustainable development and human and ecosystem health. Utilizing case studies from 4 different watersheds in the United States, Japan, Switzerland, and Brazil, this paper identifies the most relevant sustainability deficits and derives general vectors for more sustainable water management. As a consequence of the demographic and economic developments experienced in the last few decades, each watershed has suffered declines in water quality, streamflow and biotic resources. However, the extent and the cultural perception of these water-related problems vary substantially in the different watersheds, leading to specific water-management strategies. In industrialized countries, exemplified by the US, Switzerland, and Japan, these strategies have primarily consisted of finance- and energy-intensive technologies, allowing these countries to meet water requirements while minimizing human health risks. But, from a sustainability point of view, such strategies, relying on limited natural resources, are not long-term solutions. For newly industrialized countries such as Brazil, expensive technologies for water management are often not economically feasible, thus limiting the extent to which newly industrialized and developing countries can utilize the expertise offered by the industrialized world. Sustainable water management has to be achieved by a common learning process involving industrialized, newly industrialized, and developing countries, following general sustainability guidelines as exemplified in this paper.     

Bilateral symmetry and locomotion: do elliptical regular sea urchins proceed along their longer body axis?

Vagile animals usually have bilaterally symmetrical bodies and proceed with their mouth-end first. Regular sea urchins have, however, radially symmetrical bodies with their mouth facing the substratum and show no preference in which side of the body should be anterior in their locomotion. The elliptical sea urchins in the subfamily Echinometrinae are exceptional among regular sea urchins in having elongated bilateral bodies. We studied whether they showed the preference in the direction of locomotion using Echinometra sp. type A. Directional preference was not observed in the proceedings in an open space. However, they proceeded preferentially with their long axis coinciding with the direction of locomotion when they moved along the water surface or along the wall of the aquarium. The speed of locomotion was the same irrespective of the direction of proceedings and of whether sea urchins moved freely or moved along the water surface or along the walls. We suggest that the bilateral body form and the habit of long-axis lead of this sea urchin have adaptive significance to increase the protected body surfaces, not to facilitate the efficiency in locomotion.     

四川黄龙沟天然水中的深源CO_2与大规模的钙华沉积

在有大规模钙华沉积的四川黄龙沟中,使用化学成分数据以及碳氧稳定同位素组成对其水文地球化学特征进行了分析研究。研究区钙华沉积的地表溪流水质基本上受到两种水混合的制约,即断层泉水和山区的融雪(冰)水。泉水中含有高浓度的经由断层提供的CO2,结果高浓度的溶解CO2使得其溶解的碳酸盐岩比普通的岩溶泉溶解的碳酸盐岩高得多,同时也导致硅酸盐岩的溶解。黄龙沟中上游的泉水相对于方解石接近于平衡。溶解无机碳(DIC)的浓度和它们的δ13C值是大约由c=0.02mol·L1δ13C=-3‰的CO2(aq)与含有δ13C=+3‰的碳酸盐岩在封闭系统条件下反应的结果。估计这些CO2中约有70%来自上地幔。所有泉水的水化学数据均落在高岭石稳定域内,但对Na长石和Ca长石具有侵蚀性。由于这些长石矿物的溶解速率太慢,所以水中的化学成分远离长石稳定域。地表溪流的DIC种类之间达到同位素平衡,在不同观测点发现的δ13CDIC变化主要是由于从水中释放出的CO2的程度不同引起的。水样的δ18O值与其采集点的海拔高度之间存在线性关系;研究区的地表溪流的氧同位素组成受到蒸发的制约。在流经钙华沉积物的地表溪流中白天和夜晚的水化学及pH的日变化表明生物作用促进了碳酸盐的沉积,尽管作用不显著。据估计研究区碳酸钙的日沉积速率是4778kg·km2,即约1mm·a1。     

Caste-fate determination primarily occurs after adult emergence in a primitively eusocial paper wasp: significance of the photoperiod during the adult stage

Independent-founding paper wasps constitute a major group of primitively eusocial insects, and when caste-fate determination occurs in temperate species of these wasps, particularly regarding whether it occurs before or after emergence, remains unclear. No critical morphological differences occur between potential queens of the next generation (often called gynes) and workers in primitively eusocial insects. The gynes of temperate species are characterized by diapausing, and the nutrients available during the larval stage have often been believed to determine caste fate. Short days usually induce diapause in temperate nonsocial insects, although few investigations of the effects of day length on caste-fate determination in paper wasps have been conducted. By exposing individuals to different combinations of short and long days during the immature and adult stages, we show for the first time that short days during the adult stage (but not during the immature stage) facilitated caste-fate determination toward gynes in a paper wasp. Moreover, the decision to diapause partly depended on changes in the photoperiod during the pupal and adult stages. The size of the adult also affected caste-fate determination, with diapause more likely to occur in large adults, but this size effect did not occur when individuals were exposed to many short days during the pupal stage. In addition, all adults except for a small proportion of smaller individuals prepared for diapause under short days. These findings suggest that the photoperiod is a higher priority cue than adult size.