Using multiple indicators to assess the environmental status in impacted and non-impacted bathing waters in the Iranian Caspian Sea

Human activities have increased in the Caspian Sea in last decades, impacting the coastal zone ecosystems. One of the increasing activities is recreation, including bathing areas in the south of the Caspian Sea, which have been scarcely studied and assessed. Investigating the interactions between human activities and the resulting environmental status in bathing areas, by using adequate indicators and assessment methods, is necessary to undertake management measures for ecosystem restoration. In this study, for the first time, we use the Nested Environmental status Assessment Tool (NEAT) outside the European waters to assess environmental status in bathing waters, to differentiate areas impacted and non-impacted by bathing activities. We have assessed the status in winter and summer seasons, by combining multiple indicators from different ecosystem components (8 physico-chemical, 4 bacteria, 2 plankton, and 1 benthos indicators). Despite the interactions between season and human affection, NEAT determined that the Caspian Seas is not in good status, differentiating, in summer, between impacted and non-impacted bathing areas, with a significant correlation with the number of beach users. Accordingly, management measures should be taken in the southern Caspian Sea to improve the environmental status in general and that of bathing areas in particular.     

Operant conditioning of scratching in lemurs

An adult femaleLemur catta and an adult femaleEulemur fulvus were given edible rewards for scratching. Both subjects learned to scratch in order to obtain the rewards, showed diminished rates of scratching during periods of extinction, and learned to scratch preferentially with one foot when required. TheLemur catta subject was more responsive to the changing experimental conditions than theEulemur fulvus. The conditionability of scratching in primates does not appear to be directly related to the widespread occurrence of scratching in simian social contexts.     

Endogenous opiates: 2000

This paper is the twenty-third installment of the annual review of research concerning the opiate system. It summarizes papers published during 2000 that studied the behavioral effects of the opiate peptides and antagonists, excluding the purely analgesic effects, although stress-induced analgesia is included. The specific topics covered this year include stress; tolerance and dependence; learning, memory, and reward; eating and drinking; alcohol and other drugs of abuse; sexual activity, pregnancy, and development; mental illness and mood; seizures and other neurological disorders; electrical-related activity; general activity and locomotion; gastrointestinal, renal, and hepatic function; cardiovascular responses; respiration and thermoregulation; and immunological responses.     

《生物化学》重要章节——《糖酵解》课堂教学体会与思考

《生物化学》是生物类专业的一门重要学科基础课程。《糖酵解》属于《糖代谢》一章的其中一节。本节内容的学习需应用前一章《生物氧化与氧化磷酸化》的已学知识,也是《糖代谢》后续内容《三羧酸循环》及《糖异生》等的学习基础,因此是本章教学的重要环节,教学效果的好坏将影响到《糖代谢》一章的整体教学质量。课程教学团队在多年课堂教学实践基础上,对《糖酵解》一节的课堂教学体会及思考进行了总结,供大家交流与参考。