Effects of trace metal and exposure to air on serotonin and dopamine levels in tissues of the mussel Perna perna

We evaluated levels of serotonin (5HT) and dopamine (DOPA) in muscle and digestive glands of the mussel, Perna perna, collected at different times of day; exposed to air for 24 h, followed by re-submersion; and after exposure to different metals. Mussels collected at different periods of day showed little oscillation in 5HT and DOPA levels. Mussels exposed to metals showed significant changes in 5HT and DOPA levels in digestive gland and muscle, as did mussels exposed to air. Our data suggest that analyses of 5HT and DOPA in tissues of mussels could serve as a tool to evaluate the presence and effects of heavy metal contamination in mussels. Care in data interpretation is required, however, since other environmental factors such as exposure of mussels to air (i.e. at low tides) can also cause changes in DOPA and 5HT levels. Additional research is necessary to separate such natural environmental effects from effects of contaminants.     

HYDROPOWER RESOURCES IN UPPER YANGTZE

ＨＹＤＲＯＰＯＷＥＲＲＥＳＯＵＲＣＥＳＩＮＵＰＰＥＲＹＡＮＧＴＺＥＣＨＥＮＪｉｓｈｅｎｇ（ＤｉｒｅｃｔｏｒＥｍｅｒｉｔｕｓ，ＹａｎｇｔｚｅＲｉｖｅｒＳｃｉｅｎｔｉｆｉｃＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅ（ＹＲＳＲＩ），２３ＨｕａｎｇｐｕＲｏａｄ，Ｗｕ...     

Seasonal and Interdecadal Variations of Heat Transport over the Northern Hemisphere

1Introduction Theglobalclimatechangehasbeenoneoftheprob lemschallengingtheworldinrecentyears.TheweatherandclimateonEarthhasbeeninvariationontimescalesfromseasonaltomillennialorevenlonger.ResearchesonvariationsofweatherandclimateintheNorthernHemispherehave…     

Design of controlled elastic and inelastic structures

One of the founders of structural control theory and its application in civil engineering,Professor Emeritus Tsu T.Soong,envisioned the development of the integral design of structures protected by active control devices.Most of his disciples and colleagues continuously attempted to develop procedures to achieve such integral control.In his recent papers published jointly with some of the authors of this paper,Professor Soong developed design procedures for the entire structure using a design-redesign proce...     

THE EFFECT OF DRAINAGE ON CHEMICALELEMENTS CONTENT OF MARSH

I INTRODUCTIONWetland has very important effect on retainingwater and against drought, regUlating climate, controlling soil erosion and so on ac. Today men often attachimportance to economic effect of wetland reclamation,but neglect and destroy other functions and effectswhich result in blind wetland development, a lot ofwetland degeneration. The area of freshwater wetland inthe 1950s was 134 x 10'ha, but in the 1970s 70% hadchanged into farmland (MITSCH, 1993). The area ofwetland in d…     

THE SAND WEDGE AND MIRABILITE OFTHE LAST ICE AGE AND THEIR PALEOCLIMATICSIGNIFICANCE IN HEXI CORRIDOR

Sand wedge is formed under the conditions of coldclimate, and is an important basis for reconstructingpaleoenvironment (LI et al., 1990; WANG, 1991 ). Ithas been reported constantly over the last 20 years inthe Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (GUO, 1979; CUl,1983; XU et al., 1984; LIANG et al.,, 1984; PAN etal., 199 ) and North China (YANG et al., 1983; DONGet al., 1985) and Northeast China (GUO et al.,1981 ). We also found fossil sand wedge groups formedin the end of the Late P…     

CSCO_3 CYCLES IN SALAWUSU RIVER BASINSINCE 150KA B.P.

About 70years ago，Frenc卜卜alaeohdoglst回LL sc卜dars al卜ome and a卜road卜ave successively con－HARD de Chardin P．et al．Initiated the Quaternary ducted large amount ofwork on the Later Quaternarygeologlcal research In the ＞alawusu River Basin of strata（TEILHARD，1924； YUAN，1978； LI，1987；desert region of Northern China and established th，ZHENG，1989； SUN et al，1996； LI et al，1993），Salawusu Formation门EILHARD，1924）．Sine，then，palaeobiology…     

Socio-economic and environmental implications of the hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India

This paper deals with detailed analysis of the fiasco created by the Tehri High Dam in Uttarakhand, India, particularly in terms of resettlement and rehabilitation of the local inhabitants. Aspects pertaining to the environmental issues are also discussed. Currently, the river valleys in Uttarakhand state of India are the targets of increasing hydroelectric projects. Virtually all rivers are being exploited for generating environmental friendly power. Having being learned the hard lesson from Tehri Dam, it has been decided to opt for such schemes in which comparatively little submergence and tempering with the fragile eco-systems is involved.However, our observations suggest that even in such schemes if due care is not taken they may turn out to be a failure.     

Isolation of Protoplasts from Undaria pinnatifida by Alginate Lyase Digestion

1　Introduction　Protoplastsserveasabasicandversatiletoolforge neticengineeringandbiochemicalresearchforseveralreasons :theymayregeneratetheirwallsandprovideamodelsystemforstudyingwallbiogenesis ,theirlysisprovidesagentlemeansofpreparingsubcellularor ganelles ,andthemembraneexpositionallowsgeneticmanipulationsinvolvingfusionoruptakeofnucleicacidstobepossible .Theseadvantagesarelessachiev ablewhenusingintactcells (Liciaetal.,1999) .Incomparisonwithlandplantsandunicellularalgae ,on lylimitedrepo…