The effect of heating temperature of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) optical waste glass as a partial substitute partial for clay in eco-brick

In order to fulfill the current WEEE directives, the traditional approach to manage thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) waste glass is inadequate. It is a serious opportunity to achieve resource conservation, reduction, stabilization and safety of management of TFT-LCD in the near future. To assist in achieving these goals, this study investigated the sintering characteristics and material properties of TFT-LCD waste glass, which can be pulverized and ground and subsequently blended with clay, at various substitution levels (0–40%) and finally fired from 800 °C to 1000 °C to make eco-brick. The brick thus produced was analyzed to determine variations in weight losses on ignition, 24-h absorption, bulk density, shrinkage, compressive strength and microstructure changes. The results for specific gravity, water adsorption, and compressive strength revealed that bricks made from mixtures containing TFT-LCD waste glass met the general requirements for bricks. The advantages of less water absorption, less weight loss on ignition, and a gain in compressive strength in the clay-TFT-LCD waste glass bricks should encourage the use of TFT-LCD waste glass as a brick additive.     

平板显示器回收的新挑战

显示屏（监视器和电视机）经历了从阴极射线管到平板显示器技术的快速变化。截至目前为止,只有少量的平板显示器已记录在废物收集点。平板显示器的数量越来越多,在未来需要足够的用于回收的基础设施。本文旨在通过液晶显示屏幕的回收对经济影响的案例研究来提供数量、成分、回收利用技术和经验的基本数据。对于组件和材料也适用于其他类型的电子产品,如黑色金属和有色金属,印刷电路板或电缆,回收途径和技术是众所周知的和可用的。目前,液晶显示器（LCD）在欧洲不回收。处置时,例如,通过焚烧,有价值的材料,其成分是不再可用。例如：铟具有重要战略意义的应用,如,太阳能光伏作为一种稀缺资源。液晶显示器在欧洲具有回收基础设施,因此是有用的。     

Soil and preen waxes influence the expression of carotenoid-based plumage coloration

The signaling function of carotenoid-based plumage is mainly determined by the concentration of pigments in feathers. For this reason, most studies of the proximate control of coloration focus on processes during and preceding moult. In great tits Parus major, past research demonstrates that carotenoid-based plumage coloration honestly indicates male quality and, thus, may be a sexually selected signal. In this study, we investigate how dirt and preen oil influence the coloration of carotenoid-based feathers in the great tit. We collected six feathers from each individual bird; three feathers served as controls while the remaining three feathers were washed with a chloroform/methanol mixture to remove soil and preen waxes. We assessed plumage coloration using digital photography. This cleaning procedure slightly enhanced ornamentation; the experimentally cleaned feathers expressed hues shifted towards shorter wavelengths and expressed brighter overall coloration than control feathers. This is the first experimental study conducted on wild birds demonstrating that, in addition to pigment concentration, the presence of preen waxes and soils on feathers may contribute to variation in coloration.     

Male satin bowerbirds (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ptilonorhynchus violaceus</Emphasis>) compensate for sexual signal loss by enhancing multiple display features

Numerous studies have focussed on the relationship between female choice and the multiple exaggerated sexual traits of males. However, little is known about the ability of males to actively enhance specific components of their display in response to the loss of one component. We investigated the capacity of male satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) to respond to the loss of one of their sexual signals by performing an experiment in which we removed decorations at their bowers. We found that males compensated for decoration loss by increasing bower construction behaviour and decreasing their latency to bower painting. These results are novel because they suggest that males can assess the quality of their own display and make decisions about how to augment their displays. We discuss these results in the context of previous studies of mate choice in satin bowerbirds, as both of the supplementary behaviours we observed are known correlates of male mating success.     

肘部支撑在视频显示终端作业过程中对背部和右手表面肌电影响的Meta分析

本文主要探讨肘部支撑在视频显示终端作业过程中对背部和右手表面肌电的影响。采用Meta分析方法对以往研究资料进行筛检及汇总分析。结果发现：左右侧斜方肌的最大自主收缩百分比（MVC％）分别下降了0．83％（95％CI-1．00％--0．66％）和0．61％（95％CI-0．78％～-0．43％）,对于右手食指伸指肌而言,其影响并不具有显著性。可以认为肘部支撑是一种比较简单而且有效的预防措施。     

Sexual difference in PCB congener distributions of burbot (Lota lota) from Lake Erie

Concentrations of 86 congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined for 25 adult female and 25 adult male burbot (Lota lota) from Lake Erie. Significant differences in mean proportions of total PCB concentration between males and females ages 14–17 were found for 26 congeners. Males generally had higher mean proportions of hexachloro congeners, whereas females had higher mean proportions of more highly chlorinated congeners. In contrast, only four congeners exhibited differences between males and females ages 6–13 in mean proportions of total PCB. Therefore, the sexual difference in PCB congener distribution widened for older burbot. Males ages 14–17 also had higher proportions of certain hexachloro congeners than the other three demographic groups (males ages 6–13, females ages 6–13, and females ages 14–17) we examined. The reverse was true for more highly chlorinated congeners. The results supported a previous hypothesis that older male burbot spent a substantial amount of time feeding in the vicinity of mouths of rivers with sediment contaminated with PCBs. However, additional studies are needed to clarify and corroborate this apparent “hot spot” effect, such as seasonal movements, spatial distributions, and diet of burbot; and PCB congener distributions of various species of prey fishes captured at various locations throughout the eastern basin of Lake Erie and at different locations in the contaminated rivers.     

大空间火灾烟气流动的动态显示研究

讨论了火灾烟气流动过程的计算机动态模拟方法。利用Ｄｅｌｐｈｉ可视化编程工具,建立了一个融区域模拟计算和计算机动态显示于一体的火灾发展的模拟软件,并以中国科技大学的大空间建筑火灾实验厅为对象,对典型火灾羽流及烟气层的发展过程进行了动态显示。     

Hermaphrodite sex role preferences: the role of partner body size, mating history and female fitness in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana

Costs and benefits associated with matings and the effects of mating frequency on fitness commonly differ between the sexes. As a result, outcrossing simultaneous hermaphrodites may prefer to copulate in the more rewarding sex role, generating conflicts over sperm donation and sperm receipt between mates. Because recent sex role preference models remain controversial, we contrast here some of their assumptions and predictions in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana. For this hermaphrodite with sperm storage and internal fertilisation, risk-averse models assume that fitness pay-offs are constantly higher in the female than in the male function in any single mating. Moreover, excluding mutual partner assessment, these models predict male mating behaviour to be independent of receiver traits. The competing gender ratio hypothesis assumes that relative fitness pay-offs, and thus the preferred mating roles, vary and may reverse between matings and predicts that ejaculation strategies co-vary with receiver quality. We found that field mating rates of C. sandrana substantially exceeded what is required to maintain female fertility and fecundity, indicating large variation in direct female benefits between matings. We further demonstrate that male copulation duration adaptively increased with partner body size (i.e. fecundity) but decreased with recent partner promiscuity. These findings are compatible with the gender ratio hypothesis but contradict risk-averse models.     

Digit ratios (2D:4D), secondary sexual characters and cell-mediated immunity in house sparrows <Emphasis Type="Italic">Passer domesticus</Emphasis>

Homeobox genes regulate development of digits, and it has been suggested that the ratio of length of second to length of fourth digit reflects such genetic effects in a sex-specific manner. We show that digit ratios in the sexually dichromatic house sparrow Passer domesticus differ between sexes, with males having higher ratios than females, and that individuals produce consistent ratios on the two feet. If Homeobox or other genes had pleiotropic effects on development of digits, behavior, and physiology of males and females, we would expect secondary sexual characters and immunity to be related to digit ratio in a sex-specific manner. The size of the visible part of the black badge in February (a secondary sexual character), but not total badge size, was positively correlated with digit ratios, suggesting that males with more male-like digit ratios had larger visible badges. Because of sex-specific effects of development on secondary sexual characters and immunity, we predicted sex-specific differences in immune response to be related to digit ratio. House sparrows with large digit ratios had weaker T cell-mediated immune response than individuals with small digit ratios, particularly in females, implying that females with more male-like digit ratios had weak immune responses. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early development, as reflected by digit ratios, and genetics affect the expression of adult characters that are supposedly strongly contributing to fitness.     

Absence of sex-differential brood raising by workers in Diacamma sp. from Japan

To optimally allocate resources between workers, reproductive females, and males, ant workers have to be able to identify the sex of larvae and raise them differently. The ability of workers to discriminate between the sexes in the brood was tested in colonies of queenless ponerine ants, Diacamma sp., from Japan. The ratio of male eggs in the egg pile was increased experimentally. This manipulation resulted in a corresponding increase in the ratio of adult males, suggesting that Diacamma workers do not raise the sexes differently. Received: 4 November 1997 / Accepted after revision: 14 March 1998