Assessing Methods for Developing Phosphorus Desorption Isotherms from Soils using Anion Exchange Membranes

Developing desorption isotherms for inorganic phosphorus (P) is a time-consuming and non-standardized procedure. Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) have been successfully used in studies of P desorption kinetics and total membrane-desorbable P, but rarely have they been used for developing P desorption isotherms. Our study had two objectives: (1) to evaluate the suitability of using multiple strips of AEMs (termed the Multiple AEM Method) to develop P desorption isotherms; and (2) to compare the Multiple AEM Method with a sequential-extraction approach using AEMs (termed the Sequential AEM Method) to determine if the manner in which AEMs were used would influence the slope of the desorption isotherm, i.e. the partition coefficient. Both methods yielded well-defined, but numerically different desorption isotherms for all levels of sorbed P. However, estimated K _d values among methods were equivalent in the low and medium levels of P sorbed. The Multiple AEM method was quicker than the Sequential AEM method, but both gave similar K _d values in an agriculturally significant range of soil solution concentrations. These methods should be tested on a range of soil type to determine their suitability in developing P desorption isotherms and to move toward method standardization for desorption isotherms.     

Hill coefficient-based stochastic switch-like signal directly governs damage-recovery dynamics in freshwater fish in response to pulse copper

Growing evidence demonstrates that fluctuating metal stressors can have profound impact on the ecophysiological responses in aquatic species. However, how environmental stochasticity affects the complex damage-recovery dynamics in organisms remains difficult to predict. The objective of this paper was to investigate the stochastic behavior in the damage-recovery dynamics in tilapia in response to pulse waterborne copper (Cu). We developed a mathematical framework that allows discrimination between damage and recovery processes in tilapia exposed to designed pulse Cu scenarios. We built deterministic nonlinear models for the damage-recovery dynamics that produce response surfaces describing killing/recovery rate–Cu-pulse interval interactions. Here we showed that the stochastic switching behavior arose from competition among killing, recovery rates, and Cu pulse frequency. This competition resulted in an ultrasensitivity appeared in whole body, gills, muscle, liver, and kidney with Hill coefficients of ≥7, 4, 7, 5, and 5, respectively, at Cu 3 mg L⁻¹, dilution rate 0.05 h⁻¹, and pulse interval 72 h, indicating that a stochastic switch-like response was generated. We argue that the role of gill-associated Hill coefficient as a direct signal of the stochastic switch-like response in the damage-recovery dynamics in response to pulse metal stressor can serve as a sensitive indicator for risk detection in fluctuating environments. Our approach constitutes a general method to identify the stochastic switch-like response for aquatic species exposed to fluctuating metal stressors, which may help to predict and, eventually, expand our understanding of the damage-recovery dynamics. Finally, we implicate that Hill coefficient-based switch-like signal and its damage with hazard response can be linked in an information theoretic framework to handle environmental stochasticity.     

Artificial Sweat for Humanoid Finger

To achieve favorable Frictional Tactile Sensation （FTS） for robot and humanoid fingers, this report investigated the effects of human finger sweat on Friction Coefficient （FC） and verified the effectiveness of artificial sweat on FTS tbr a humanoid finger. The results show that the model sweat （salt and urea water faked real sweat） increases the FC of the real finger sliding on the high hygroscopic and rough surface （paper）, whereas on the low hygroscopic and smooth surface （PMMA）, the sweat forms a fluid film and decreases FC, restricting severe finger adhesion. Further, the film formation and capillary adhesion force of sweat were discussed. The experimental results with the artificial sweats （ethanol and water） and humanoid finger （silicone rubber skin with tactile sensors） verifies the effectiveness. The artificial sweat restricts severe adhesion （stick-slip vibration）, and enhances cognitive capability of FTS.     

Cooperativity of ligand binding as a function of monomer-dimer equilibrium parameters and acceptor concentration

A general monomer-dimer equilibrium system involving ligand interactions ispresented. Cooperativity features of specific limited models are analyzed by selecting the appropriate family of equilibrium constants from this general scheme. Each system is then characterized in terms of Hill coefficient dependency on alterations in values of equilibrium constants and total acceptor concentration. This method permits comparison of predicted cooperativity trends between systems. Contrasting reports concerning cooperativity dependencies for certain defined equilibrium systems are compared and the discrepancies resolved. Characteristics of cooperativity binding patterns are shown to include symmetry about dimerization association constant values, both positive and negative cooperativity for a single set of parameters, and significant changes in cooperativity features with relatively small changes in equilibrium parameters.     

早期糖尿病肾病大鼠模型磁共振弥散加权成像的初步研究

目的:探讨早期糖尿病肾病(Diabetic nephropathy,DN)模型大鼠磁共振弥散加权成像(Diffusion Weight Imaging,DWI)肾实质ADC值变化规律。方法:将20只清洁级雄性SD大鼠随机分成两组,糖尿病肾病组(DN组)12只,正常对照组(NC组)8只;DN组给予60 mg/kg链尿佐菌素腹腔注射诱导糖尿病肾病模型,NC组按照相同方法、相同剂量柠檬酸缓冲液腹腔注射;并对最终糖尿病模型造模成功并且存活的8只DN大鼠、8只NC大鼠进行MRI扫描,包括常规轴位T1WI、T2WI扫描及DWI扫描;扫描结束后收集血液送血肌酐及双肾组织进行病理检查。并测量每只大鼠双肾皮、髓质的ADC值。结果:造模后,DN组大鼠血糖明显升高、尿量明显增加、体重明显减低,DN组大鼠肾脏出现不同程度病理损伤,符合早期DN病理改变。DN组大鼠肾脏皮、髓质ADC值分别为1.522±0.913×10^-3 mm^2/s、1.268±0.388×10^-3 mm^2/s,较NC组肾脏皮、髓质ADC值1.276±0.341×10^-3 mm^2/s、1.011±0.217×10^-3 mm^2/s增高,两组比较有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:DWI成像ADC值可能反映早期糖尿病肾病肾脏功能的变化。     

Artificial neural network and response surface methodology: a comparative analysis for optimizing rice straw pretreatment and saccharification

Abstract

The present study demonstrates a comparative analysis between the artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) as optimization tools for pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic rice straw. The efficacy for both the processes, that is, pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was evaluated using correlation coefficient (R²) & mean squared error (MSE). The values of R² obtained by ANN after training, validation, and testing were 1, 0.9005, and 0.997 for pretreatment and 0.962, 0.923, and 0.9941 for enzymatic saccharification, respectively. On the other hand, the R² values obtained with RSM were 0.9965 for cellulose recovery and 0.9994 for saccharification efficiency. Thus, ANN and RSM together successfully identify the substantial process conditions for rice straw pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification. The percentage of error for ANN and RSM were 0.009 and 0.01 for cellulose recovery and for 0.004 and 0.005 for saccharification efficiency, respectively, which showed the authority of ANN in exemplifying the non-linear behavior of the system.     

岷江上游4个栽培树种细根功能性状垂直分布的差异性

细根(直径≤2 mm)功能性状及垂直分布格局是反映植物对土壤资源吸收策略和影响森林地下生态过程的关键。本研究以岷江上游4个人工林树种连香树(Cercidiphyllum japonicum)、白桦(Betula platyphylla)、华山松(Pinus armandii)和油松(P.tabuliformis)为对象,调查不同海拔树木细根功能性状及其在不同土层间的垂直分布格局,并分析细根功能性状分布与构型之间的相关关系。结果表明:阔叶树种比针叶树种有更大的根长密度、生物量、比根长和比表面积,而直径反之;4个树种细根集中在0~20 cm土层,根长密度和生物量在较高海拔地段均显著大于较低海拔,且均随土壤深度增加而减少,但比根长、比表面积和直径无显著的海拔差异,随土层加深也无明显的垂直变化规律;针阔树种间的细根构型差异显著,但不受海拔差异的影响,阔叶树的细根分支强度与一级根数量显著大于针叶树种;一级根数和根尖密度与比根长以及分根比与根长密度和生物量均呈显著正相关,而分叉与几个细根功能参数均呈负相关;随着土层深度增加,细根总生长量明显减少,但细根资源利用效率和策略不变;5个细根功能性状的垂直分布格局差异明显,且受树种特性影响显著,细根分支构型对其垂直分布及资源获取策略具有显著影响。     

Length-weight relationships of 10 fish species from the coastal waters of the East China Sea

The present study provides the length-weight relationships (LWRs) for 10 marine fish species collected from the coastal waters of the East China Sea by bottom trawl surveys. The open width of the sampling net was 40 m and the mesh size of the codend was 20 mm. Specimens were collected from November 2015 to November 2019 at seasonal intervals. The measurement accuracy of weight and length were 0.1 grams and 0.1 centimeters, respectively. This study provides new information of LWRs for nine species which have not yet been reported in FishBase. Also, this study updates the information of maximum length for two species.     

Length-weight relationship of 16 fish species from the Negro River basin (Amazonas state,Brazil)

This study aimed to estimate the parameters of length-weight relationship for 16 freshwater fish species that inhabit the Aracá and Demeni Rivers, which are two tributaries of the Negro River (Amazonas state, Brazil). The fishes were sampled using gillnets (15 × 2 m, mesh size 30–120 mm between opposite knots), during 6 days each year, in April 2016, November 2018 and April 2019. The gillnets were placed in the river twice each day; in the morning (5–9 a.m.) and in the evening (5–9 p.m.), with a standardized time of 4 hr. Measurements were taken for standard length (SL – 0.1 cm precision) and total weight (TW – 0.01 g precision). The parameters a and b of the equation W_T = a.L_T^b were estimated. This study also provides new data on of maximum lengths for six species, namely, Argonectes longiceps, Hemiodus atranalis, Chalceus erythrurus, Astrodoras asterifrons, Trachydoras steindachneri and Acarichthys heckelii.