Toxic contaminants and their biological effects in coastal waters of Xiamen,China. II. Biomarkers and embryo malformation rates as indicators of pollution stress in fish

Baseline information is presented on embryo malformation rate and biomarkers in fish as indicators of sub-lethal stress caused by pollution in coastal waters of Xiamen, PR China. Fish and eggs were sampled from several areas in Xiamen coastal waters (Xiamen Harbour, Maluan and Tongan Bays and East Channel), where varying levels of pollutant input have been documented. Comparative sampling was done at a "cleaner" reference site at Dongshan Island. Embryonic malformation rates, which indicate general water quality, varied with location and species of fish, and exceeded background levels for unpolluted waters (assumed approximately 5%) by up to eightfold at some sites. Generally, sites around Xiamen Harbour show signs of poor water quality having highest mean levels of embryo deformity (20-30%) and these decreased towards open waters (Tongan Bay, Eastern Channel) where abnormalities approached background levels. An indication that toxic contaminants may be having a localised effect in the region, particularly in the harbour was reinforced by the biomarker assays. However, activities of the biomarkers ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) and glutathione S-transferase in fish livers indicate no clear pattern, and there is no evidence that fish from the four sampling areas have been more or less exposed to PAHs and other compounds that induce these biomarkers. Antioxidant biomarkers (glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and reduced glutathione) suggest that exposure to xenobiotics appears to be lowest in Dongshan and Maluan and highest in the harbour and Tongan. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase in fish muscle indicated possible effects by organophosphate and carbamate pesticides in Xiamen waters and these effects may be greatest in the area of the harbour.     

Comparison of Transient Network Brightenings and Explosive Events in the Solar Transition Region

I analyze the properties of the pulsed emission from the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 in observations of its 1998 April outburst by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. Pulse phase spectroscopy shows that the emission evolves from a hard spectrum (power law with photon index of 2.39+/-0.06) to a soft spectrum (index of 3.39+/-0.24). This softening is also observable as a phase lag in the fundamental of low-energy photons with respect to high-energy photons. I show that this lag is roughly constant over 10 days of the outburst. I fit these data with a model in which the pulse emission is from a hot spot on the rotating neutron star and the flux as a function of phase is determined in a calculation which includes the effects of general relativity. The energy-dependent lags are very well described by this model. The harder spectra at earlier phases (i.e., as the spot approaches) are the result of larger Doppler-boosting factors that are important for this fast pulsar. Since this model is sensitive to the equatorial speed as an independent parameter and since the spin frequency is known, this offers us a new means of measuring the neutron star radius, which is notoriously difficult to determine.     

Does Deuterium Enable the Formation of Primordial Brown Dwarfs?

The time evolution of barred structures is examined under the influence of the external forces exerted by a spherical halo and by prolate halos. In particular, galaxy disks are placed in the plane including the major axis of prolate halos, whose configuration is often found in cosmological simulations. N-body disks in fixed external halo fields are simulated, so that bars are formed via dynamical instability. In the subsequent evolution, the bars in prolate halos dissolve gradually with time, while the bar pattern in a spherical halo remains almost unchanged to the end of the simulation. The decay times of the bars suggest that they can be destroyed in a time smaller than a Hubble time. Our results indicate that this dissolution process could occur in real barred galaxies, if they are surrounded by massive dark prolate halos, and the configuration adopted here is not unusual from the viewpoint of galaxy formation. For a prolate halo model, an additional simulation that is restricted to two-dimensional in-plane motions has also ended up with similar bar dissolution. This means that the vertical motions of disk stars do not play an essential role in the bar dissolution demonstrated here.     

Impacts of the Detection of Cassiopeia A Point Source

Very recently the Chandra first light observation discovered a point-like source in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This detection was subsequently confirmed by the analyses of the archival data from both ROSAT and Einstein observations. Here we compare the results from these observations with the scenarios involving both black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs). If this point source is a BH, we offer as a promising model a disk-corona type model with a low accretion rate in which a soft photon source at approximately 0.1 keV is Comptonized by higher energy electrons in the corona. If it is an NS, the dominant radiation observed by Chandra most likely originates from smaller, hotter regions of the stellar surface, but we argue that it is still worthwhile to compare the cooler component from the rest of the surface with cooling theories. We emphasize that the detection of this point source itself should potentially provide enormous impacts on the theories of supernova explosion, progenitor scenario, compact remnant formation, accretion to compact objects, and NS thermal evolution.     

利用场地观测计算地表通量

高原地表的感热和潜热通量在亚洲季风系统中有很重要的作用。由于高原地域辽阔，且自然环境较严酷，不利于建立完善的地面观测系统。因此，卫星遥感观测就成为测算高原整体感热和潜热通量的有效工具。地面场地的观测结果作为地表通量的真实值，对于卫星遥感测算是非常重要的。它也为构建陆面—大气模型提供了科学依据，是卫星资料的资料同化系统中的重要组成部分。 计算场地热量通量有几种不同的处理方法。最简单的方法利用有效的观测和试验的参数，可以给出稳定连续的估计。愈精确的Bowen比或者廓线的观测能给出愈精确的信息。综合了湍流测量及辐射测量、土壤热通量的观测结果的估计对陆面—大气相互作用进行了详细的描述，以适应模式的发展。从1998年开始，这些方法联合应用到青藏高原；场地通量观测方面的成果以及目前对其理解将在本文中做一概述。     

生物质燃烧颗粒物有机示踪化合物的测定和应用

使用气相色谱-质谱法对2002年7月-2003年7月的北京市大气粗、细颗粒物样品中的左旋葡聚糖等糖类化合物进行了测定。结果表明，左旋葡聚糖主要存在于细颗粒中，可以作为示踪化合物来研究生物质燃烧现象。生物质燃烧对北京市大气颗粒物有较重要的贡献。对应于12％-40％的PM2.5有机碳和10％-33％的PM10有机碳。北京市在2002年10月和11月受到明显的生物质燃烧的影响，可能由于农田秸杆焚烧和秋季落叶焚烧。2003年5月7日颗粒物样品受到直线距离约为1000km以外的内蒙古自治区呼伦贝尔市大兴安岭林区森林大火烟雾的影响。生物质燃烧事件具有突发性，可以长距离传输；生物质作为农村生物燃料的使用其燃烧排放具有经常性和持久性的特征。     

第17章：观测地震学中的挑战

19世纪后期当仪器发展到记录地震波后地震学成为一门定量科学学科（Dewey and Bverlv，1969；Agnew所写的第1章）。地震学的基础是野外观测。过去几十年地震学的巨大进步主要是因为很好分布的观测数据数量的增加和质量的提高。电子、通讯、计算机和软件的发展使得我们收集、处理和分析数据的能力也进步很快（见Snoke and Garcia-Fernandez编辑的第85章）。     

科依纳水库地区一次4级地震的预报获得成功!

H．K．Gupta博士在5月16日早上有点兴奋地打电话给我，他说他已经观测到科依纳地区强烈的地震活动，并且认为一次强度为4级的地震可能会在未来4天内发生，要我予以关注。正如他所预报的那样，一次震级4．2的地震在科依纳地区发生了。很显然，Gupta博士在地震预报这个极为重要的问题上走对了路，我们期待听到来自国家地球物理研究所Gupta博士和他的同事们在这方面工作的进一步成果——印度地质学会主席B．P．Radhakrishna按[编者按]