The influence of light availability and predatory behavior of the decapod crustacean Nephrops norvegicus on the activity rhythms of continental margin prey decapods

The day–night cycle is one of the strongest geophysical cycles modulating species' behavioral rhythms. However, in deep-water continental margins, where light intensity decreases over depth, interspecific competition may alter behavioral responses to day–night cycles. The burrowing decapod crustacean Nephrops norvegicus is a large-size predator in benthic communities, exerting despotic territorial behavior. In this study, we analysed how the effect of light intensity cycles on decapod behavioral rhythms is reduced as one moves from shelves to slopes. In the Western Mediterranean, the predatory behavior and interspecific competition for substrate use of Nephrops increases moving from the shelf (100–110 m) to the slope (400–430 m). Vector fitting and generalized additive models were used to assess the effect of light intensity and behavioral rhythms of N. norvegicus on the temporal variation of prey decapods co-occurring in trawl tow catches carried out on the shelf and the slope during October 1999 and June 2000. The combination of diel variations in light intensity and N. norvegicus abundance influences the activity rhythms of prey decapods in a depth- and seasonal-dependent manner. Light modulation is stronger on the shelf and weaker on the slope, where Nephrops population size is greater. Although present regression analysis does not necessarily imply a direct cause–effect relationship between rhythms of predators and prey, we suggest that Nephrops alters the temporal patterning in the behavior of its prey on the slope, where light intensity is reduced. This alteration is stronger in endobenthic species than in benthopelagic species; the former rely on bottom substrate for the expression of behavioral rhythms, experiencing stronger interspecific competitions with Nephrops at time of activity.     

White spot syndrome virus envelope protein VP124 involved in the virus infection

White spot syndrome virus （WSSV） is one of the major shrimp pathogens causing large economic losses to shrimp farming. In an attempt to identify the envelope proteins involved in the virus infection, purified WSSV virions were mixed with three antisera against WSSV envelope proteins （VP39, VP124 and VP187 ）, individually. And then they were injected intramuscularly into crayfish （Procambarus clarkii） to conduct in vivo neutralization assays. The results showed that for groups injected with virions only and groups injected with the mixture of virions and antiserum against VP124, the crayfish mortalities were 100% and 60% on the 8th day postinfection, individually. The virus infection could be delayed or neutralized by antibody against the envelope protein VP124. Quantitative PCR was used to further investigate the influence of three antisera described above on the virus infection. The results showed that the antiserum against VP124 could restrain the propagation of WSSV in crayfish. All of the results suggested that the viral envelope protein VP124 played a role in WSSV infection.     

Light regime and components of turbidity in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

The underwater light regime of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Albufera des Grau, Balearic Islands) was studied during four years in order to characterise the spatial and temporal variations in the light attenuation coefficient (K) and to assess the relative contribution of the different water components to total light attenuation.     

Coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in Southern North Sea waters: Optical characterization and possible origin

The variability and origin of the Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) were studied in the Belgian coastal and adjacent areas including offshore waters and the Scheldt estuary, through the parameters: absorption at 375 nm, a_CDOM(375), and the slope of the absorption curve, S. a_CDOM(375) varied between 0.20 and 1.31 m⁻¹ and between 0.97 and 4.30 m⁻¹ in the marine area and Scheldt estuary, respectively. S fluctuated between 0.0101 and 0.0203 nm⁻¹ in the marine area and between 0.0167 and 0.0191 nm⁻¹ in the Scheldt estuary. The comparative analysis of a_CDOM(375) and S variations evidenced different origins of CDOM in the BCZ. The Scheldt estuarine waters showed decreasing a_CDOM(375) values with increasing salinity but constant S value of ∼0.018 nm⁻¹ suggesting a dominant terrestrial origin of CDOM. On the contrary, samples collected in the marine domain showed a narrow range of a_CDOM(375) but highly variable S suggesting the additional presence of autochthonous sources of CDOM. This source was evidenced based on the sorting of the marine offshore data according to the stage of the phytoplankton bloom when they were collected. A clear distinction was made between CDOM released during the growth stage characterized by high S (∼0.017 nm⁻¹) and low a_CDOM(375) and the decay phase characterized by low S (∼0.013 nm⁻¹) and high a_CDOM(375). This observation was supported by CDOM measurements performed on pure phytoplankton cultures which showed increased CDOM release along the wax and wane of the bloom but decreasing S. We concluded that the high variability of the CDOM signature in offshore waters is explained by the local biological production and processing of CDOM.     

Approach to modeling and virtual-reality-based simulation for plant canopy lighting

Over the past 20 years, significant progress has been made in virtual plant modeling corresponding to the rapid advances in information technology. Virtual plant research has broad applications in agronomy, forestry, ecology and remote sensing. As many biological processes are driven by light, it is the key for virtual plant to estimate the light absorbed by each organ. This paper presents the radiance equation suitable for calculating sun and sky light intercepted by plant organs based on the principles of the interaction between light and plant canopy firstly; analyzes the process principles of plant canopy primary lighting based on ray casting and projection secondly; describes the multiple scattering of plant lighting based on Monte Carlo ray tracing method and on the radiosity method thirdly; and confirms the research with 3D visualization based on Virtual Reality Modeling Language （VRML） finally. The research is the primary work of digital agriculture, and important for monitoring and estimating corn growth in Northeast China.     

重组藻胆蛋白与高等植物类囊体膜之间能量传递的研究

为了探究藻胆蛋白与高等植物类囊体膜之间的光能传递规律,验证重组藻胆蛋白是否可以与高等植物类囊体膜之间的光能传递,本研究分别提取了重组藻红蛋白、重组藻蓝蛋白以及菠菜和韭菜的类囊体进行混合孵育,然后进行了全波长吸收光谱以及荧光光谱检测。结果显示:混合孵育时间为10~20 min有利于重组藻红蛋白和藻蓝蛋白与类囊体膜结合并进行光能传递,最适混合孵育时间随重组藻胆蛋白和类囊体的种类不同而稍有不同;重组藻红蛋白不能与菠菜或韭菜的类囊体膜直接发生光能传递,但是当体系中添加重组藻蓝蛋白的时候就可以;重组藻蓝蛋白可以与类囊体中的叶绿素a直接进行光能传递,使得叶绿素a的荧光发射峰值显著提升,当藻红蛋白和藻蓝蛋白的比例是1∶2时,光能传递效率较高。本研究为藻胆蛋白在构建新型光合系统中的应用提供实验依据。     

Improving performances of ITO/GaP contact on AlGaInP light-emitting diodes

In this paper AlGaInP light emitting diodes with different types of electrodes: Au/Zn/Au-ITO Au/Ti-ITO Au/Ge/Ni-ITO and Au-ITO are fabricated. The photoelectricity properties of those LEDs are studied. The results show that the Au/Zn/Au electrode greatly improves the performance of LEDs compared with the other electrodes. Because the Au/Zn/Au electrode not only forms a good Ohmic contact with indium tin oxide (ITO), but also reduces the specific contact resistances between ITO and GaP, which are 1.273×10^-6 Ω · cm² and 1.743×10^-3 Ω ·cm² between Au/Zn/Au-ITO and ITO-GaP respectively. Furthermore, the textured Zn/Au-ITO/Zn electrode is designed to improve the performances of LEDs, reduce the forward-voltage of the LED from 1.93 to 1.88 V, and increase the luminous intensity of the LEDs from 126 to 134 mcd when driven at 20 mA.     

Stochastic Response Analysis of Piled Offshore Platform Excited by Stationary Filtered White Noise

In this paper,the analysis method of stochastic response of piled offshore platform excited bystationary filtered white noise is presented.With this method,the strong ground motion is considered asthree direction stationary filtered white noise process,the theoretic solutions of three special integrationequations are derived with the residue theorem,and the expression of response nodal displacements andmember forces of offshore platform excited by the stationary filtered white noise is put forward.Thestochastic response of a piled offshore platform excited by the stationary filtered white noise,which is lo-cated 114.3m in water depth,is computed.The results are compared with those obtained with the re-sponse spectrum analysis method and the stationary white noise model analysis method,and the corre-sponding conclusion is drawn.     

胶州湾悬浮颗粒现场剖面测量与结果分析

应用LISST-100现场激光粒度仪于2003年3月在胶州湾首次进行了悬浮颗粒剖面测量,获得了2个剖面的悬浮颗粒现场粒度分布光衰减资料。2个剖面的悬浮颗粒分布自上而下非常相似,颗粒平均大小多为38~74μm,其中1~20μm细颗粒组分所占的比重高。水柱表层悬浮颗粒略粗于底部悬浮颗粒,而且内湾悬浮颗粒比外湾粗。水柱近底层悬浮颗粒粒径同底质浮泥颗粒粒径大小相近,颗粒组成也非常相似。悬浮颗粒浓度自上而下逐渐增大,接近底部颗粒浓度急剧增高。根据现场测量数据可以马上对悬浮颗粒有效密度、颗粒沉降速率和通量做粗略估算。分析结果表明,光衰减系数同颗粒浓度显著相关,推断光衰减主要是由1~250μm悬浮颗粒的散射作用引起的,而<20μm的悬浮粒子对光衰减作用起着主要控制作用。光衰减系数与颗粒投影面积显著相关,表明颗粒投影面积可以作为遥感离水反射率的替代指标。     

Phytoplankton productivity in relation to light intensity: A simple equation

A simple exponential equation is used to describe photosynthetic rate as a function of light intensity for a variety of unicellular algae and higher plants where photosynthesis is proportional to (1-e^−β1). The parameter β ( ) is derived by a simultaneous curve-fitting method, where I is incident quantum-flux density. The exponential equation is tested against a wide range of data and is found to adequately describe P vs. I curves. The errors associated with photosynthetic parameters are calculated. A simplified statistical model (Poisson) of photon capture provides a biophysical basis for the equation and for its ability to fit a range of light intensities. The exponential equation provides a non-subjective simultaneous curve fitting estimate for photosynthetic efficiency (a) which is less ambiguous than subjective methods: subjective methods assume that a linear region of the P vs. I curve is readily identifiable. Photosynthetic parameters β and a are used widely in aquatic studies to define photosynthesis at low quantum flux. These parameters are particularly important in estuarine environments where high suspended-material concentrations and high diffuse-light extinction coefficients are commonly encountered.