日本虎斑猛水蚤在抑食金球藻中存活、发育和繁殖的实验研究

抑食金球藻(Aureococus anophagefferens)可以形成褐潮, 并对贝类、浮游动物等多种生物均能造成不利影响。为进一步探究抑食金球藻对浮游动物的影响, 本文以日本虎斑猛水蚤(Tigriopus japonicus)为实验生物, 研究抑食金球藻对日本虎斑猛水蚤摄食、存活、生长发育以及繁殖的影响。日本虎斑猛水蚤具有易于在实验室培养、生长周期短、雌雄异体等优点, 是海洋毒性污染物检测的模式生物。实验利用高效液相色谱分析方法, 在日本虎斑猛水蚤体内色素中检测到了抑食金球藻的特征色素19’-丁酰氧基岩藻黄素(But-fuco), 表明日本虎斑猛水蚤能够摄食抑食金球藻。当微藻生物量(相对碳含量)分别同为0.7 μg/mL和7.2 μg/mL时, 在抑食金球藻中无节幼体发育至桡足幼体及成体的存活率均高于以青岛大扁藻为饵料的对照组, 但无显著差异, 并且在前者中无节幼体的发育时间显著低于后者, 12 d内雌体的产卵次数与产卵量显著高于后者。结果表明, 日本虎斑猛水蚤在抑食金球藻中能进行正常的生命活动, 并且是首次报导的一种能够在抑食金球藻中正常摄食、生存、生长发育和繁殖的浮游动物。因此, 当褐潮发生时, 由于贝类幼体等生物会受到显著的不利影响, 日本虎斑猛水蚤等抗性较强的生物可能会成为优势种, 从而会影响浮游动物群落结构的组成, 进而可能会使整个海洋生态系统发生变化。本研究有助于全面了解褐潮对海洋生态系统的影响。     

Measures of Parameter Uncertainty in Geostatistical Estimation and Geostatistical Optimal Design

Studies of site exploration, data assimilation, or geostatistical inversion measure parameter uncertainty in order to assess the optimality of a suggested scheme. This study reviews and discusses measures for parameter uncertainty in spatial estimation. Most measures originate from alphabetic criteria in optimal design and were transferred to geostatistical estimation. Further rather intuitive measures can be found in the geostatistical literature, and some new measures will be suggested in this study. It is shown how these measures relate to the optimality alphabet and to relative entropy. Issues of physical and statistical significance are addressed whenever they arise. Computational feasibility and efficient ways to evaluate the above measures are discussed in this paper, and an illustrative synthetic case study is provided. A major conclusion is that the mean estimation variance and the averaged conditional integral scale are a powerful duo for characterizing conditional parameter uncertainty, with direct correspondence to the well-understood optimality alphabet. This study is based on cokriging generalized to uncertain mean and trends because it is the most general representative of linear spatial estimation within the Bayesian framework. Generalization to kriging and quasi-linear schemes is straightforward. Options for application to non-Gaussian and non-linear problems are discussed.     

Formation Mechanism of Mud Bank Along the Southwest Coast of India

Mud bank formation during the southwest monsoon along the southwest coast of India remains an enigma to the researchers and coastal community in spite of several earlier studies. The present study attempts to unravel the mystery through a high-frequency, season-long time-series observation at Alappuzha, located at the southern part of the west coast of India, a region of frequent occurrence of mud bank. Using 7-month-long weekly time-series observation, we identified strong winds and high waves associated with onset of the southwest monsoon and subsequent three episodic atmospheric low-pressure events (LPEs).With the help of in situ time-series data, we show that the strong winds and high waves associated with southwest monsoon pre-conditions the near shore bottom sediment to bring it into suspension. The high amplitude waves associated with the southwest monsoon, while propagating from the deep water to shallow water region, interact with the bottom initiating bottom-sediment movement and its suspension due to wave refraction and shoaling. The sporadic occurrence of the atmospheric LPEs enhances the process of suspension of bottom sediment in the near shore region leading to the formation of fluid mud. Simulations with a cohesive sediment transport model yielded realistic estimates of sediment transport, in the presence of an onshore current, a pre-requisite for transporting the fluid mud toward the coast. The prevailing onshore upwelling current during the southwest monsoon provides the favorable pre-requisite conditions for transporting the fluid mud through depression channel network towards the coast. Once sufficient quantity and thickness of fluid mud is accumulated in the near shore region, it acts as a wave damper for subsequent high monsoon waves, as indicated by the time-series wave data, leading to the formation of tranquil mud bank region. Depression channel networks extending from the shelf to the coast off Alappuzha, Kochi, Ponnani, Beypore, and Ullal were found in the bathymetric charts, thus explaining why mud banks occur only at few locations in spite of the prevalence of similar monsoon conditions.     

Expression of putative zinc-finger protein lcn61 gene in lymphocystis disease virus China （LCDV-cn） genome

An open reading frame (lcn61) of lymphocystis disease virus China (LCDV-cn), probably responsible for encoding putative zinc-finger proteins was amplified and inserted into pET24a (+) vector. Then it expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3), and His-tag fusion protein of high yield was obtained. It was found that the fusion protein existed in E. coli mainly as inclusion bodies. The bioinformatics analysis indicates that LCN61 is C2H2 type zinc-finger protein containing four C2H2 zinc-finger motifs. This work provides a theory for functional research of lcn61 gene. Supported by High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2006AA100309)     

Arsenic anomalies in shallow Venetian Plain (Northeast Italy) groundwater

A pilot area within the Venetian Plain was selected to assess the arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater. The area represents a typical residential, industrial and agricultural organization representative of most western countries, and is also devoid of lithologies with high or anomalous As content. Hydrogeological and chemical data have been collected, the latter spatialized by a geostatistical approach. The unconfined aquifer reservoir varies from a predominantly gravel composition in the north to a sandy and silt–clay composition further south, including peat layers. The hydrochemical features of the waters are rather homogeneous, featuring low mineral content and a Ca-bicarbonate signature. In contrast, the redox state is highly variable; oxidizing conditions are predominant in the northern and coarse parts of the aquifer, whereas reducing potentials prevail in the southern and silt–clay parts. Several well waters contain arsenic in excess of drinkable limits (=10 ppb), and most of these wells are located in the southern area. A large portion of the studied area has a high probability of containing non-potable water (up to 150 ppb As). Remarkably, As “hot spots” (As > 300 ppb, up to 431 ppb) were identified at the transition from gravel to silt–clay sediments. No industrial or agricultural source of As has been found.     

Sea-level rise impacts on longitudinal salinity for a low-gradient estuarine system

Climatic Change - Salinity response to sea-level rise is evaluated for a low-gradient, tidally active estuary, the lower St. Johns River, Florida. A high-resolution numerical model is forced by...     

Models of travel demand with endogenous preference change and heterogeneous agents

In the literatures of regional science, urban economics, and urban development planning, a working assumption is that individuals respond to incentives and regulations, given their preferences. Models for planning and policy analyses are used to consider what might occur if the incentives or regulations were different. In these models, however, preferences are usually assumed to be given and stable, and agents are usually assumed to be homogeneous. This paper focuses on the implications of making preferences in models of policy implementation endogenously determined and time varying heterogeneous agents. We consider first the recent literature on intertemporal choice and preference change, which cuts across many disciplines, and more briefly the literature on norm-regarding behavior. We then elaborate a simple model of transportation demand—from a static to a dynamic orientation, from fixed and exogenously given preferences of strictly self-regarding agents to endogenously determined and policy-induced preferences of heterogeneous agents—and illustrate its characteristics with simple numerical examples.     

Carbon-Oxidizing and Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in Mozhaisk Reservoir Soils

The population and distribution of carbon-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in the soils of the Mozhaisk Reservoir are studied.