Measurement of 7-dehydrocholesterol and cholesterol in hair can be used in the diagnosis of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome

7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) and cholesterol (CHOL) are biomarkers of Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), a congenital autosomal recessive disorder characterized by elevated 7-DHC level in patients. Hair samples have been shown to have great diagnostic and research value, which has long been neglected in the SLOS field. In this study, we sought to investigate the feasibility of using hair for SLOS diagnosis. In the presence of antioxidants (2,6-ditert-butyl-4-methylphenol and triphenylphosphine), hair samples were completely pulverized and extracted by micro-pulverized extraction in alkaline solution or in n-hexane. After microwave-assisted derivatization with N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide, the analytes were measured by GC-MS. We found that the limits of determination for 7-DHC and CHOL were 10 ng/mg and 8 ng/mg, respectively. In addition, good linearity was obtained in the range of 50–4000 ng/mg and 30–6000 ng/mg for 7-DHC and CHOL, respectively, which fully meets the requirement for SLOS diagnosis and related research. Finally, by applying the proposed method to real hair samples collected from 14 healthy infants and two suspected SLOS patients, we confirmed the feasibility of hair analysis as a diagnostic tool for SLOS. In conclusion, we present an optimized and validated analytical method for the simultaneous determination of two SLOS biomarkers using human hair.     

Assessing water scarcity by simultaneously considering environmental flow requirements,water quantity,and water quality

Water scarcity is a widespread problem in many parts of the world. Most previous methods of water scarcity assessment only considered water quantity, and ignored water quality. In addition, the environmental flow requirement (EFR) was commonly not explicitly considered in the assessment. In this study, we developed an approach to assess water scarcity by considering both water quantity and quality, while at the same time explicitly considering EFR. We applied this quantity–quality-EFR (QQE) approach for the Huangqihai River Basin in Inner Mongolia, China. We found that to keep the river ecosystem health at a “good” level (i.e., suitable for swimming, fishing, and aquaculture), 26% of the total blue water resources should be allocated to meet the EFR. When such a “good” level is maintained, the quantity- and quality-based water scarcity indicators were 1.3 and 14.2, respectively; both were above the threshold of 1.0. The QQE water scarcity indicator thus can be expressed as 1.3(26%)|14.2, indicating that the basin was suffering from scarcity problems related to both water quantity and water quality for a given rate of EFR. The current water consumption has resulted in degradation of the basin's river ecosystems, and the EFR cannot be met in 3 months of a year. To reverse this situation, future policies should aim to reduce water use and pollution discharge, meet the EFR for maintaining healthy river ecosystems, and substantially improve pollution treatment.     

Gender identification of shovelnose sturgeon using ultrasonic and endoscopic imagery and the application of the method to the pallid sturgeon

Monthly sampling of shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus , a biological surrogate for the endangered pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus , was conducted to develop a multi‐seasonal profile of reproductive stages. Data collected included histological characteristics of gonads from wild caught fish and laboratory and field ultrasonic and endoscopic images. These data were used to compare effectiveness of ultrasonic and endoscopic techniques at identifying gender of adult shovelnose sturgeon at different reproductive stages. The least invasive method ( i.e . ultrasound) was least effective while the most invasive ( i.e . endoscope through an abdominal incision) was the most effective at identifying shovelnose sturgeon gender. In most cases, success rate for identifying males was greater than females, with success at identifying both genders greater in more advanced reproductive stages. Concomitantly, for most months average reproductive stage was more advanced for males than females. April and May were the months with the most advanced reproductive stage, and were the months when ultrasound was most effective. Methods were also applied in the Upper Missouri River to validate their use on pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus . Ultrasound was successful at identifying pallid sturgeon gender, however, endoscopic examination through the urogenital duct was only successful at identifying pallid sturgeon gender when the urogenital duct was not opaque.     

Heavy metal pollution in surface water and sediment: A preliminary assessment of an urban river in a developing country

The concentration and chemical fractionation of globally alarming six heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd and Pb) were measured in surface water and sediment of an urban river in Bangladesh. The decreasing trend of metals were observed in water as Cr > Cu > As > Ni > Pb > Cd and in sediment as Cr > Ni > Cu > Pb > As > Cd. The level of studied metals exceeded the safe limits of drinking water, indicated that water from this river is not safe for drinking and/or cooking purposes. However, the investigated metals showed low mobility except for Cd and Pb which could pose a severe threat to the aquatic environment. Contamination factor (CF) and geoaccumulation index (I_geo) demonstrated that most of the sediment samples were moderately to heavily contaminated by Cr, As, Cd and Pb. The pollution load index (PLI) values were above one (>1) indicates progressive deterioration of the sediment quality. The extent of pollution by heavy metals in the river Korotoa implies that the condition is much frightening to the biota and inhabitants in the vicinity of the river as well.     

基于MODIS NDVI的长江中游区域植被动态及与气候因子的关系

基于1999-2015年的MODIS NDVI时间序列遥感数据，应用趋势分析、变异系数、重标极差分析和偏相关分析等方法，分析了长江中游的植被时空变化特征及其与气象因子的关系。结果表明，长江中游地区NDVI均值总体上呈上升趋势（从0.72增加到0.80）。从空间分布来看，NDVI低值区域（0.1-0.5）占1.40%，高值区域（>0.7）占87.15%；NDVI空间格局呈"西高东低、北高南低"的分布特征，低值区域表现为以三省省会城市为中心向外辐射。Hurst指数显示，研究区大部分区域（60.54%）的NDVI变化趋势具有不确定性，持续性改善区域（34.78%）主要分布在西部山地区，持续性退化区域（3.26%）主要分布在人类活动频繁的较发达城市区域。在年际尺度上，研究区NDVI与各气象因子关系均不显著；月际尺度上，NDVI与降水、相对湿度和日照时数显著相关，降水和日照时数有明显的时滞性。区域内NDVI动态趋势以不确定性发展为主，城市群周边NDVI呈现持续退化的区域应该引起关注。     

Village Drift and Riverine Settlement: Modeling Akimel O'odham Land Use

Regular unscheduled movements of rancherías within a confined area or settlement district result in the phenomenon described as "village drift," a process whereby a settlement may change its location gradually by several kilometers over a period of years. This article presents a model of village drift based on data acquired from recent archaeological and geomorphological field studies and archival research on the Akimel O'odham, the Gila River Pima of south-central Arizona. The model provides an excellent example of human ecodynamics---an emerging landscape perspective that emphasizes the coevolution of humans and their ecosystem---with implications for understanding prehistoric and historic settlement in desert riverine environments.     

Effect of differential gastric evacuation and multispecies prey items on estimates of daily energy intake in juvenile chinook salmon

Synopsis The caloric density of stomach contents in juvenile chinook salmon,Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, was not affected by gastric evacuation, suggesting a constant caloric density of stomach contents during evacuation. Differences in the caloric density of prey consumed did affect caloric density of stomach contents over a 24-h period. Consumption of the amphipodCorophium sp. was associated with reduced caloric densities of stomach contents. During periods whenCorophium contributed more than 4% of the stomach contents, average caloric density declined from 5.56 to 5.33 kcal g^–1. Despite this difference, estimates of daily energy intake of juvenile chinook salmon were only 3%, greater when developed from the mean caloric density of stomach contents excludingCorophium.     

Summer bacterial populations in Mississippi River Pool 19: implications for secondary production

Bacterial populations were sampled at 37 sites in Mississippi River Pool 19. Bacterial biomass was calculated from direct epifluorescent cell counts. Bacterial production was estimated by incubating cells in situ in predator-free water inside membrane chambers and the frequency of dividing cells. Bacterial biomass in the water column ranged from 0.05 to 1.13 mg C ^-1, biomass in the vegetated areas of the pool was significantly higher than that in other habitats (P < 0.05, ANOVA). Biomass in sediments (to a depth of 10 cm) ranged from 24 to 1,073 mg C m^-2, biomass in muddy sediments was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in sandy sediments. Biomass on the submersed surfaces of hydrophytes was 0.06–4.90 mg bacterial C g^-1 dry weight of plant material. The vegetated habitat (water column plus vegetation) contained approximately 45 times the concentration of bacterial carbon found in nonvegetated main channel border areas and more than 100 times the concentration in the main river channel.Bacterial production rates in the water column of a vegetated section of the pool ranged from 0.03 to 3.28 g C m ^-3 s d ^-1 ; production (m ^-3) in a vegetation bed was 5.5 times that in the adjacent nonvegetated channel border areas and approximately 50 times that in the main channel. Aquatic macrophytes and associated microorganisms may be capable of providing significant inputs of carbon to secondary consumers in the pool during the summer low flow.