Immune responses to combined effect of hypoxia and high temperature in the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis

Flow cytometry was used to examine immune responses in haemocytes of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis under six combinations of oxygen level (1.5 mg O2 l(-1), 6.0 mg O2 l(-1)) and temperature (20 °C, 25 °C and 30 °C) at 24 h, 48 h, 96 h and 168 h. The mussels were then transferred to normoxic condition (6.0 mg O2 l(-1)) at 20 °C for further 24 h to study their recovery from the combined hypoxic and temperature stress. Esterase (Est), reactive oxygen species (ROS), lysosome content (Lyso) and phagocytosis (Pha) were reduced at high temperatures, whereas hypoxia resulted in higher haemocyte mortality (HM) and reduced phagocytosis. For HM and Pha, changes were observed after being exposed to the stresses for 96 h, whereas only a 24 h period was required for ROS and Lyso, and a 48 h one for Est. Recovery from the stresses was observed for HM and Pha but not other immune responses.     

Inhibition by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of ATPase activities in Sebastiscus marmoratus larvae: relationship with the development of early life stages

Sebastiscus marmoratus larvae were exposed to waterborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) containing 3-5 rings, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), pyrene (Py) or phenanthrene (Phe), respectively at 0.01, 0.1 and 1 μg L?1. Cumulative mortality, frequency of dorsal curvature and rate of pericardial and yolk sac edema in larvae treated for 8 days were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. All three PAHs resulted in reduction of the lower jaw, and the extent of reduction increased with increasing concentrations of the PAHs. Na+/K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activity in larvae exposed to the three PAHs were all significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis using the Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a significant correlation between the rate of the dorsal curvature and edema and the inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activity, suggesting that the developmental defects caused by PAHs were related to their inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activity.     

Ground-Based In Situ Measurements of Near-Surface Aerosol Mass Concentration over Anantapur: Heterogeneity in Source Impacts

Surface measurements of aerosol physical properties were made at Anantapur(14.62°N,77.65 °E,331 m a.s.l),a semiarid rural site in India,during August 2008-July 2009.Measurements included the segregated sizes of aerosolsas as well as total mass concentration and size distributions of aerosols measured at low relative humidity(RH<75%) using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance(QCM) in the 25-0.05 μm aerodynamic diameter range.The hourly average total surface aerosol mass concentration in a day varied from 15 to 70 μg m-3,with a mean value of 34.02±9.05μgm-3 for the entire study period.A clear diurnal pattern appeared in coarse,accumulation and nucleation-mode particle concentrations,with two local maxima occurring in early morning and late evening hours.The concentration of coarse-mode particles was high during the summer season,with a maximum concentration of 11.81±0.98μgm-3 in the month of April,whereas accumulationmode concentration was observed to be high in the winter period contributed >68% to the total aerosol mass concentration.Accumulation aerosol mass fraction,A f(=Ma/Mt) was highest during winter(mean value of Af～0.80) and lowest(Af～0.64) during the monsoon season.The regression analysis shows that both R eff and R m are dependent on coarse-mode aerosols.The relationship between the simultaneous measurements of daily mean aerosol optical depth at 500 nm(AOD500) and PM 2.5 mass concentration([PM2.5]) shows that surface-level aerosol mass concentration increases with the increase in columnar aerosol optical depth over the observation period.     

Recent advances on study of hadrosaurid dinosaurs in Heilongjiang(Amur) River area between China and Russia

Four main dinosaur-bearing sites have been investigated in latest Cretaceous deposits from the Amur/Heilongjiang Region: Jiayin and Wulaga in China (Yuliangze Formation) ,Blagoveschensk and Kundur in Rus- sia (Udurchukan Formation) . More than 90% of the bones discovered in these localities belong to hollowcrested lambeosaurine hadrosaurids: Charonosaurus jiayinensis at Jiayin,Amurosaurus riabinini at Blagoveschensk, Olorotitan arharensis at Kundur,and Sahaliyania elunchunorum at Wulaga. Flat-headed hadrosaurine hadrosau- rids are much less numerous,but appear well diversified as well: Kerberosaurus manakini at Blagoveschensk, Wulagasaurus dongi at Wulaga,and a new genus at Kundur. Theropods are represented by shed teeth and isolated bones; isolated scutes and teeth discovered at Kundur are tentatively attributed to nodosaurids. Palynologi- cal studies suggest that these sites are probably synchronous with the Lancian’ vertebrate localities of western North America,which represent the youngest dinosaur faunas in this area. However,the latest Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages are completely different in the Amur/Heilongjiang region (lambeosaurines abundant,ceratopsids absent) and in western North America (ceratopsids abundant,lambeosaurines extremely rare or absent) . This probably reflects some kind of geographical barrier between both areas by Maastrichtian time rather than strong differences in palaeoecological conditions.     

In-depth improvement of soil at the base of roads on taliks

The article presents a new technological solution to improve the safety of embankment bases on taliks during construction periods. The use of geotextile-sleeved sand columns and geogrids on low-temperature permafrost is investigated. The correlations between mechanical and temperature processes under this in-depth base improvement method are calculated.     

A Review on the Taxonomic, Evolutionary and Phytogeographic Studies of the Lotus Plant (Nelumbonaceae: Nelumbo)

Nelumbo Adans. （Nelumbonaceae） is an important member of the early-diverging eudicots. It contains two extant species： N. nucifera Gaertn. （the Sacred lotus）, distributed in Asia and Australia and N. lutea Willd. （the American lotus）, occurring in North America. This paper reviews the taxonomic, evolutionary and phytogeographic studies of the genus Nelumbo, and also raises scientific questions about it in further paleobotanic research. There are about 30 fossil species of Nelumbo established since the Early Cretaceous. Based on fossil studies, the ancestors of the extant N. nucifera and N. lutea are respectively considered to be N. protospeciosa from the Eocene to Miocene of Eurasia, and N. protolutea from the Eocene of North American. However, molecular systematic studies indicate that N. nucifera and N. lutea are probably split from a common ancestor during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, or even the Pleistocene, rather than separate relicts from extinct species on different continents. The characters of lotus stomatal development, seedling morphology as well as its flowering, pollination and fertilization in air reveal that it evolves from the land plants. Fossil data of Nelumbo indicates that the genus first occurs in mid-latitude area of Laurasia in the Early Cretaceous, then becomes widespread in North America and Eurasia and expands into Africa and South America during the Late Cretaceous; the genus probably colonizes the Indian Subcontinent from Asia during the Early Eocene after the collision of India and the Asian plates; the genus becomes extinct in Europe, but survives in Asia and North America during the Quaternary Ice Age, and later forms the present East Asia and North Australia-North America disjunctive distribution.