Calcium levels in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia</Emphasis> ephippia cannot provide a useful paleolimnological indicator of historical lakewater Ca concentrations

Despite reductions in atmospheric sulphur emissions and the resulting decline in acidic deposition, many lakes on the Canadian Shield that have experienced acidification are either recovering at a rate slower than expected or not recovering at all. This lack of recovery is believed to be partly the consequence of the depletion of exchangeable base cations (principally calcium, Ca) from watershed soils. Although the implications of reduced Ca availability for biological communities remain poorly understood, the effects on crustacean zooplankton populations may be severe, as Ca is the primary structural component of the crustacean zooplankton exoskeleton. Because the daphniid resting egg is protected by a modified portion of the exoskeleton (ephippia) and because these ephippia are well preserved in lake sediments, we investigated whether inter-specific differences in Ca content are recoverable from Daphnia ephippia. However, using two methods, we did not find a recoverable Ca signal in the ephippia, indicating that future efforts should be focused upon sedimentary taxonomic assemblage differences, not differences in ephippial Ca levels.     

水氯镁石-石灰乳沉淀法制备氢氧化镁工艺优化

就石灰乳-水氯镁石沉淀法制备氢氧化镁工艺进行了总结,在前人研究工作的基础上,探讨了沉淀反应温度、晶种添加量、沉淀反应搅拌速度等工艺条件对氢氧化镁沉淀品质及性能的影响,给出了试验结果;并对已有工艺条件进行了优化,使得到的氢氧化镁具有较好的粒度和纯度,改进后的工艺有较好的工业前景和利用价值。     

Tracing effects of decalcification on solute sources in a shallow groundwater aquifer, NW Germany

δ⁸⁷Sr values and Ca/Sr ratios were employed to quantify solute inputs from atmospheric and lithogenic sources to a catchment in NW Germany. The aquifer consists primarily of unconsolidated Pleistocene eolian and fluviatile deposits predominated by >90% quartz sand. Accessory minerals include feldspar, glauconite, and mica, as well as disperse calcium carbonate in deeper levels. Decalcification of near-surface sediment induces groundwater pH values up to 4.4 that lead to enhanced silicate weathering. Consequently, low mineralized Ca–Na–Cl- and Ca–Cl-groundwater types are common in shallow depths, while in deeper located calcareous sediment Ca–HCO₃-type groundwater prevails. δ⁸⁷Sr values and Ca/Sr ratios of the dissolved pool range from 7.3 to −2.6 and 88 to 493, respectively. Positive δ⁸⁷Sr values and low Ca/Sr ratios indicate enhanced feldspar dissolution in shallow depths of less than 20 m below soil surface (BSS), while equilibrium with calcite governs negative δ⁸⁷Sr values and elevated Ca/Sr ratios in deep groundwater (>30 m BSS). Both positive and negative δ⁸⁷Sr values are evolved in intermediate depths (20–30 m BSS). For groundwater that is undersaturated with respect to calcite, atmospheric supplies range from 4% to 20%, while feldspar-weathering accounts for 8–26% and calcium carbonate for 62–90% of dissolved Sr²⁺. In contrast, more than 95% of Sr²⁺ is derived by calcium carbonate and less than 5% by feldspar dissolution in Ca–HCO₃-type groundwater. The surprisingly high content of carbonate-derived Sr²⁺ in groundwater of the decalcified portion of the aquifer may account for considerable contributions from Ca-containing fertilizers. Complementary tritium analyses show that equilibrium with calcite is restricted to old groundwater sources.     

Active Soils of the Niger Delta in Road Pavement Design and Construction

Active soils existing to irreplaceable extents (both laterally and vertically) within the freshwater zone of the Niger delta are known and have been shown to be highly undesirable in their natural forms for road construction. This is because they swell extensively in the rainy season and shrink proportionately in the dry months together with any structure including road pavement constructed with or placed on them. In this paper, four samples of these soils collected from across the Niger delta were subjected to chemical stabilization with slaked-lime and calcium chloride (CaCl₂) to reduce swelling potential while resulting mixtures (corresponding to tolerable swelling limits) were stabilized with Portland cement to improve strength. First, swell indicator (i.e. 24-h free swell index) was found to diminish with increasing stabilizer content while for combined plot (independent of location/percentage fines), about 10.7% and 6% slaked-lime and CaCl₂ were found to be required to achieve the minimum (2.5% free swell) tolerable, normal or non-swell soil condition. Under this condition and for individual soil materials, addition of cement was found to enhance continual increase in MDD, soaked-CBR and durability index such that the soil becomes better compactible, stronger and more durable with increasing cement content. About 2.6% and 14.6% cement contents were found needed to respectively produce sub-base and base-course materials in roadworks with the latter much more durable than the former. The graphs so obtain could also constitute a complete graphical model for preparing deltaic active soils for use as road pavement materials.     

Determination of Ca,K, Mg and Fe in four fish species by FAAS

A method for determining calcium(Ca),potassium(K),magnesium(Mg) and iron(Fe) in four fish species was optimized and validated.It included microwave mineralization of the samples and subsequent quantification by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy(FAAS) with Zeeman-effect background correction.Using HNO3(65%) and H2O2(33%) as extraction solutions,the optimal conditions of extraction were established as follows:0.5 g of sample mass;microwave time program of 300 W/5 min and 600 W/5 min.The method was free of matrix interferences.The linear correlation coefficients were ≥0.9991,the recovery percentage of analytes was from 99.31% to 103.70% and the RSD(relative standard deviation) was lower than 2.06%.The detection limits obtained were 32.3,43.2,14.0 and 68.6 ng mL-1 for Ca,K,Mg and Fe in FAAS respectively.It is shown that the method is rapid,simple,sensitive and accurate.The method was applied to the studies of digestibility and measurement of these nutrients in samples of fish collected from Norway,Japan and China.     

黄土碳酸盐碳同位素环境意义讨论

黄土碳酸盐碳同位素广泛应用于第四纪气候环境变化的研究中,以往的大多数研究中无论是利用钙结核、次生碳酸盐还是成壤碳酸盐,认为其反映了C4植物的丰度。黄土高原碳酸盐碳同位素表现为黄土层高,古土壤层中低,即黄土层中C4植物丰度高于古土壤层。然而,这样的结果和黄土有机碳同位素得到的结果矛盾,有机碳同位素的结果表明温度对C4植物的分布起到了决定性作用。由于有机碳同位素对植物类型的反映更为直接而可靠,因此碳酸盐碳同位素反映C4植物丰度存在疑问。对黄土高原黄土碳酸盐碳同位素的系统概括后认为,第四纪期间黄土碳酸盐碳同位素与C4植物有直接联系,但C4植物丰度不是唯一决定性的因素,碳酸盐碳同位素的指示意义存在复杂性。在黄土高原地区,植被发育程度、与大气CO2交换程度、植被本身的碳同位素值的变化以及原生碳酸盐的影响等因素都会对碳酸盐碳同位素产生影响。由黄土碳酸盐碳同位素的讨论可延伸到不同土壤碳酸盐碳同位素揭示的环境指示意义,不同的土壤环境,其气候条件、植被类型及发育程度、大气CO2的交换情况、微生物的活动及土壤次生碳酸盐受原生碳酸盐溶解的影响等因素都会对碳同位素产生不同程度影响,哪种或哪几种因素产生主要作用,在不同区域土壤环境中是不一样的。具体研究中需确定影响的核心因素,才能确定碳同位素的环境指示意义。     

Hydrodynamic loads on subsea robots

Free floating subsea robots are often subjected to complex hydrodynamic loads due to waves/currents and wakes from nearby structures. This makes control extremely difficult. Good hydrodynamics data might counteract this. This paper presents hydrodynamics data for two configurations undergoing various combinations of steady translation and approximately steady rotation. The two configurations are: a spherical body with a single fixed link arm and a two link arm without a body. For both configurations neural networks were found to provide a reasonable fit to the data. We believe that such fits could be used to improve control.     

溶液中钙镁含量准确测定的方法研究

经典测定钙、镁含量的方法是用EDTA标准溶液滴定钙镁总量后再滴定钙,此方法对于含钙、镁离子盐水体系溶解度的测定,尤其在镁含量较高的情况下,其分析精度和准确度远远迭不到要求。针对硝酸钙、硝酸镁混合样品,采用EDTA质量滴定法测定钙镁总量,用草酸钙沉淀法从镁中定量分离钙,然后运用羔减法计算出镁的含量。实验结果表明,当混合溶液中镁钙的质量比不超过10：1时,钙、镁离子分析结果的相对误差在±0．3％之内,但镁钙的质量比超过10：1时,相对误差达到1％。因此,在一定的镁钙质量比范围内,此方法可用于盐水体系中钙、镁含量的准确测定。     

X-ray photoelectron study of oxygen bonding in crystalline C–S–H phases

We recorded the photoelectron spectra of various crystalline calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–Hs) and have examined their O 1 s photoelectron spectra. The spectra are asymmetric, with contributions assigned primarily to bridging and non-bridging oxygen species. There is an increased contribution due to the presence of non-bonding oxygen atoms with increasing calcium:silicon ratio. Additionally, there are slight changes in theO 1s-binding energies with changes in calcium:silicon ratio. These changes are explained in terms of bonding and silicate structure.     

下调心肌CPT1b的表达对肥胖小鼠心肌细胞钙调控的影响

目的 研究干扰心肌组织中肉毒碱脂酰转移酶-1b（CPT1b）的表达对高脂饮食诱导的肥胖小鼠心肌细胞钙调控的影响。方法 4周龄的雄性C57小鼠,随机分为正常对照组（N-mock）、肥胖对照组（O-mock）及肥胖干预组（O-CPT1b）,采用高脂饮食诱导肥胖。6周龄时,经心肌分别注射靶向CPT1b（O-CPT1b）或靶向无关基因（N-mock、O-mock）的重组慢病毒,以下调目标基因的表达。10周后,取小鼠左心室组织检测RNA干扰的效率;采用Western blot法检测左心室组织中肌浆网钙泵（SERCA2a）的蛋白表达;并分离单个心室肌细胞,使用活细胞工作站检测心肌细胞钙瞬变。结果 肥胖小鼠心肌组织中CPT1b的表达增加,慢病毒介导的RNA干扰显著下调其表达。肥胖引起心肌细胞SERCA2a的蛋白表达降低及肌质网钙处理能力的下降,下调CPT1b的表达增加了SERCA2a的含量,并改善了钙调控异常。结论 下调心肌组织中CPT1b的表达可改善肥胖所导致的心肌细胞钙调控异常。