Effects of salinity fluctuation amplitudes on growth, osmolarity, Na＋-K＋-ATPase activity and Hsp70 of juvenile Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis Osbeck

The effects of various salinity fluctuation amplitudes (2, 4, 6 and 8) on the growth, osmolarity, Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity and Hsp70 of juvenile Fenneropenaeus chinensis cultured in seawater with a salinity of 20 were studied. The results show that weight gain in the salinity fluctuation treatments was better than that in control; in particular, the weight gain of treatments S4 and S0, at 231.8% and 196.3%, respectively, was significantly different (P<0.05). The hemolymph osmolarity of treatments S0, S2, S4, S6 and S8 was 635.4, 630.8, 623.6, 614.4 and 600.3 mOsm/kg, respectively, and decreased with increasing salinity fluctuation amplitude. The level of Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase activity in gills of F. chinensis was higher than that in hepatopancreas, but there were no significant differences among all treatments, either in gills or hepatopancreas (P>0.05). The relative level of Hsp70 in treatment S4 was 48.4% and 40.4% higher than control in muscle and eyestalks, respectively, with the highest values being recorded under a salinity fluctuation amplitude of 4.     

FUZZY COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF CONTAINER TRANSPORTATION MODES ALONG THE CHANGJIANG RIVER MAIN LINE AND ITS DELTA AREA

The Changjiang River (Yangtze) is one of the fastest growth areas of container transportation in Chi-na. Rail, road and water transportation have competed against each other for container transportation in the Chang-jiang River main line and its delta area. It is of significance to assess these different transportation modes scientifi-cally in order to organize container transportation efficiently in this area and make decision for integral plan and construction of transportation system in this area. This paper outlines application of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to appraise different modes of typical direction of containers. Twelve assessment indexes were decided. Membership functions were formulated. Evaluation results indicated that road transportation was optimal mode in the Changjiang River delta area, however water transportation was the primary way in the Changjiang River main line.     

Soil nutrients in relation to vertical roots distribution in the riparian zone of Three Gorges Reservoir,China

Since the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), the riparian zone has been subjected to numerous environmental changes. This study was conducted to recognize the distribution of grass roots and its impacts on soil nutrients in the water level fluctuation zone of TGR. Roots of four predominant herbaceous plants in the study area, specifically, Cynodon dactylon, Hemarthria altissima, Hemarthria compressa, and Paspalum paspaloides, and their corresponding relation with soil nutrient contents were investigated. Root surface area density was determined with WinRHIZO, and the relationships of root distribution with soil depths and soil nutrient contents were studied. The results indicates that most roots are distributed in the top soil layer of 0–10 cm. Estimated root surface area density for the selected grass species ranges from 0.16 to 13.44 cm2/cm3, and decreases exponentially with an increase in soil depth. Soil organic matter and total nitrogen contents are significantly lower on bare control area than the corresponding values on the grasslands. Total nutrient contents on grasslands of C. dactylon and H. compressa are higher than those of other grass areas. Root length density and root surface area density are significantly correlated with soil organic matter and total nitrogen content for the four grasslands. The present results suggests that plant roots have significant effects on the distribution of soil nutrients in soil profiles in the riparian zone along the TGR. Nevertheless, additional investigations are needed to reveal the specific interactions between plant roots distribution, soil nutrients and water level fluctuations.     

The X10 Flare on 29 October 2003: Was It Triggered by Magnetic Reconnection between Counter-Helical Fluxes?

Vector magnetograms taken at Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS) and Mees Solar Observatory (MSO) reveal that the super active region (AR) NOAA 10486 was a complex region containing current helicity flux of opposite signs. The main positive sunspots were dominated by negative helicity fields, while positive helicity patches persisted both inside and around the main positive sunspots. Based on a comparison of two days of deduced current helicity density, pronounced changes associated with the occurrence of an X10 flare that peaked at 20:49 UT on 29 October 2003 were noticed. The average current helicity density (negative) of the main sunspots decreased significantly by about 50%. Accordingly, the helicity densities of counter-helical patches (positive) were also found to decay by the same proportion or more. In addition, two hard X-ray (HXR) “footpoints” were observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) during the flare in the 50 – 100 keV energy range. The cores of these two HXR footpoints were adjacent to the positions of two patches with positive current helicity that disappeared after the flare. This strongly suggested that the X10 flare on 29 October 2003 resulted from reconnection between magnetic flux tubes having opposite current helicity. Finally, the global decrease of current helicity in AR 10486 by ∼50% can be understood as the helicity launched away by the halo coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the X10 flare. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Resolving the landfill siting impasse: modelling technocratic and indigenous perspectives using GIS multicriteria approach

Increase in waste generation calls for an effective waste management as this has become a necessity for environmental sustainability. Several methods are adopted in managing waste, which include waste reduction, reuse, thermal treatment, recycling and landfilling. The landfill method is recognised as the most used of all the waste management methods in developing countries such as Ghana. However, the selection of a suitable landfill site is very difficult and tedious. This is because it involves a consideration of many factors such as environmental, topographic, economic, socio-cultural and civil engineering. This research sought to identify a suitable landfill site by applying GIS multicriteria and weighted overlay approach in the Bongo District of Northern Ghana. The analysis relied on criteria and weights provided by the technocrats and the indigenes in the district as a way of demonstrating how landfill siting impasse can be resolved by incorporating the various stakeholders. The results obtained provided clear areas for landfill sites in the study area from the technocratic and the indigenous perspectives. However, the technocratic perspective failed to include an important cultural criterion, sacred groves, as a factor. The indigenous perspective also compromised on the factor related to nearness to residential areas, and is equally not sufficient on its own. The optimal landfill sites, which meets the expectations of both the technocrats and indigenes, was identified. This perspective has produced technically favourable and socio-culturally acceptable landfill site. However, it is recommended an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be conducted to identify the full environmental and social cost of the site. It is concluded that in landfill site selection much attention be given to cultural factors in the same way as the technical factors.     

Initiation of primary cell culture from amphioxus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense</Emphasis>

Amphioxus, a cephalochordate, is an important model fish for studies in evolution and comparative biology. A successful cell culture from amphioxus tissues in vitro would help understanding some basic issues. To determine the optimal culture conditions for proliferation of amphioxus cells, primary cultures were initiated from buccal cirri, tail, gill, gut and metapleural fold of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense. The media tested were L-15, F-12, M 199, MEM, DMEM, PRMI 1640 and LDF, each was supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum. The optimal conditions include tail tissue cultured in L-15 or F-12 with supplement of 20% FBS and 1.5% NaCl at about 25°C. Supported by Doctoral Initial Fund of Ludong University (No.43304)     

The dependence of precipitation on wind direction over the Kuroshio front in the winter East China Sea

This study investigates atmospheric responses to the directions of surface wind over the Kuroshio front in the East China Sea, using wintertime satellite-derived data sets. Composite maps of sea surface temperature, wind speed, precipitation, turbulent heat flux, surface wind divergence, and the curl of wind vectors above the atmospheric boundary layer are depicted based on the classification of intense northeasterly (along the front) and northwesterly (across the front) winds over the East China Sea. When northeasterly winds prevail, considerable precipitation occurs on the offshore side of the Kuroshio front, in contrast to periods when northwesterly winds prevail. First, the northeasterly winds strengthen above the front because of the downward transfer of momentum from the fast-moving air at higher levels and/or an adjustment of sea level pressure over the oceanic front, although the process by which the influence of the Kuroshio penetrates beyond the marine atmospheric boundary layer remains unclear. Second, a cyclonic vortex forms above the marine atmospheric boundary layer (at 850-hPa height) on the offshore side of the front, and thereafter, surface wind convergence via Ekman suction (hence, enhanced precipitation) occurs over the East China Sea shelf breaks. The northeasterly winds blow over the East China Sea when the Aleutian Low retreats to the east and when high sea level pressure covers the northern Sea of Japan.     

Underwater observations of the giant spoon worm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ikeda taenioides</Emphasis> (Annelida: Echiura: Ikedidae) in a subtidal soft-bottom environment in northeastern Japan,which survived tsunamis of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake

Tsunamis associated with the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake seriously disrupted the shallow marine ecosystem along a 2000 km stretch of the Pacific coast of Japan. The effects of the 2011 tsunamis on the soft-bottom benthic community have been relatively well studied in the intertidal zone, whereas tsunami effects on the subtidal benthos remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated populations of the world’s largest spoon worm Ikeda taenioides (Annelida: Echiura: Ikedidae) in subtidal zone of Funakoshi Bay, Tohoku District, northeastern Japan. Subtidal scuba-diving surveys at two sites in the bay showed extremely long proboscises frequently extending from small holes in the sandy seafloor shortly before and soon after the tsunami disturbances. Based on morphological and molecular identification, the proboscises were revealed to be parts of I. taenioides. On 30 November 2011, 265 days after the tsunami event, many large-sized individuals with >1 m long proboscises were observed; these individuals were probably not derived from post-tsunami larval recruitment but more likely survived the tsunami disturbances. This is surprising because other sympatric megabenthos (e.g. spatangoid echinoids and venerid bivalves) and seagrass beds were almost completely destroyed (although they later recovered) by the tsunamis in this bay. The burrows of I. taenioides are known to be very deep (70–90 cm), which may have sheltered them from the impacts of the tsunamis. Our observations suggest that the effects of the 2011 tsunamis on benthos in soft sediments may differ depending on their burrowing depth.     

Near-source noise suppression of AMT by compressive sensing and mathematical morphology filtering

In deep mineral exploration, the acquisition of audio magnetotelluric (AMT) data is severely affected by ambient noise near the observation sites; This near-field noise restricts investigation depths. Mathematical morphological filtering (MMF) proved effective in suppressing large-scale strong and variably shaped noise, typically low-frequency noise, but can not deal with pulse noise of AMT data. We combine compressive sensing and MMF. First, we use MMF to suppress the large-scale strong ambient noise; second, we use the improved orthogonal match pursuit (IOMP) algorithm to remove the residual pulse noise. To remove the noise and protect the useful AMT signal, a redundant dictionary that matches with spikes and is insensitive to the useful signal is designed. Synthetic and field data from the Luzong field suggest that the proposed method suppresses the near-source noise and preserves the signal well; thus, better results are obtained that improve the output of either MMF or IOMP.     

内蒙古黄旗海不同粒级湖泊沉积物Rb、Sr组成与环境变化

Based on the geochemical elements Rb and Sr in sediments with three different grain size fractions from profile H3 on the northern lacustrine bottomland 13 m above the Huangqihai Lake surface in 1986,the paper investigates the record of palaeolake stand state, sedimentary environmental evolution,and winter monsoon change.First,these samples are separated into three different grain size fractions,i.e.,total sediments,77-20μm and〈20μm. Second,the chemical elements-Rb and Sr-of the grain size separation were tested and analyzed systematically in this paper.Then the elements compositions of these samples are measured using VP-320 mode fluorescence spectrum instrument,respectively.The magnetic susceptibility of these samples is measured using Kappabridge KLY-3 mode instrument made in Czech AGICO Company.The results showed the elements and the ratios varied regularly with the grain size.But the ratio of Rb/Sr in the sediments〈20μm correlates positively with the magnetic susceptibility of these samples.Therefore,the ratio of Rb/Sr in the fraction〈20 μm from the lake sediments reflected the strengthening of the weathering in the deposition sites.It is a good indicator of the summer monsoon-induced weathering and pedogenesis fluctuations and can be used to reconstruct the conditions of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment.