On several conjectures from evolution of dispersal

We address several conjectures raised in Cantrell et al. [Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution, Math. Biosci. Eng. 7 (2010), pp. 17–36 [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]] concerning the dynamics of a diffusion–advection–competition model for two competing species. A conditional dispersal strategy, which results in the ideal free distribution of a single population at equilibrium, was found in Cantrell et al. [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. It was shown in [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] that this special dispersal strategy is a local evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) when the random diffusion rates of the two species are equal, and here we show that it is a global ESS for arbitrary random diffusion rates. The conditions in [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] for the coexistence of two species are substantially improved. Finally, we show that this special dispersal strategy is not globally convergent stable for certain resource functions, in contrast with the result from [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], which roughly says that this dispersal strategy is globally convergent stable for any monotone resource function.     

The Dangerous Myth of Emerging Adulthood: An Evidence-Based Critique of a Flawed Developmental Theory

This article examines the theory of emerging adulthood, introduced into the literature by Arnett (2000 Arnett , J. J. ( 2000 ). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties . American Psychologist , 55 , 469 – 480 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), in terms of its methodological and evidential basis, and finds it to be unsubstantiated on numerous grounds. Other, more convincing, formulations of variations in the transition to adulthood are examined. Most flawed academic theories are simply ignored by scientists. However, Arnett's unsubstantiated formulations have found their way to journalists, who are influencing public opinion, and policymakers, who are determining the fate of youth populations. As such, the article argues that an academic myth is being created that has serious economic and emotional repercussions for the many young people facing difficult circumstances in their transition to adulthood. Consequently, this myth requires corrections from the scientific community, one of which is provided here.     

A Life-History Model of Human Fitness Indicators

Recent adaptationist accounts of human mental and physical health have reinvigorated the debate over the evolution of human intelligence. In the tradition of strong inference the current study was developed to determine whether either Miller's (1998 Miller, G. F. 1998. “How mate choice shaped human nature: A review of sexual selection and human evolution”. In Handbook of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues, and applications, Edited by: Crawford, C. and Krebs, D. 87–129. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.  [Google Scholar], 2000a Miller, G. F. 2000a. Mental traits as fitness indicators: Expanding evolutionary psychology's adaptationism. Evolutionary approaches to human reproductive behavior. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 907: 62–74. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Fitness Indicator Theory or Rushton's (1985 Rushton, J. P. 1985. Differential K theory: The sociobiology of individual and group differences. Pers Indiv Diff, 6(4): 441–452. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2000 Rushton, J. P. 2000. Race, evolution, and behavior: A life-history perspective, 3rd, Port Huron, MI: Charles Darwin Research Institute.  [Google Scholar]) Differential-K Theory better accounts for general intelligence (“g”) in an undergraduate university population (N = 192). Owing to the lengthy administration time of the test materials, a newly developed 18-item short form of the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM-18; Sefcek, Miller, and Figueredo 2007 Sefcek, J. A., Miller, G. F. and Figueredo, A. J. 2007. “Development and of an 18-item short form of the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM-18). (Submitted)”.  [Google Scholar]) was used. A significant, positive relationship between K and F (r = .31, p < .001) emerged. Contrary to predictions, no significant relationships were found between “g” and either K or F (r = –.09, p ≥ .05 and r = .11, p ≥ .05, respectively). Though generally contrary to both hypotheses, these results may be explained in relation to antagonistic pleiotropy and a potential failure to derive correct predictions for within-species comparisons directly from the results of between-species comparisons.     

New Important Iguanodontid and Theropod Trackways of the Tracksite Obernkirchen in the Berriasian of NW Germany and Megatracksite Concept of Central Europe

This article examines the high-resolution track horizon stratigraphy at the outcrop Obernkirchen. Massive sandstones, products of marine sand bar and fluviatile environments are present at the tracksite. Recently two track beds were examined in the outcrop. One new track slab of the lower track bed is described exposing well-preserved quadrupedal iguanodontid tracktypes of Iguanodontipus Sarjeant, Delair, and Lockley, 1998 Sarjeant, W. A. S., Delair, J. B. and Lockley, M. G. 1998. The footprints of Iguanodon: a history and taxonomic study. Ichnos, 6: 183–202. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], and bipedal theropod tracks Megalosauropus Kaever and Lapparent, 1974 Kaever, M. and Lapparent, A. F. de. 1974. Les traces des pas le Dinosaures du Jurassique des Barkhausen (Basse Saxe, Allemagne). Bulletin de la Societé Geologique Français, 16: 516–525.  [Google Scholar]. The ichnogenus Iguanodontipus is discussed and the diagnosis extended. The tracksite Obernkirchen belongs to a megatracksite of the ancient coastline of the marginal marine Hercynic Basin of the Lower Cretaceous of Europe, including the four well-known sites Obernkirchen, Bad Rehburg, Münchehagen, and Bückeburg of Northwest Germany. Three different tracktypes of huge sauropods, theropods, and ornithopods are abundant at basal Lower Cretaceous siliciclastic coastlines in different regions in Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, and Switzerland. Dinosaur tracks are also present in carbonate platform environments of northern Italy and Istria.     

Indoor Air as a Source of VOC Contamination in Shallow Soils Below Buildings

US EPA and many state regulatory agency guidance documents recommend below-foundation vapor sampling as a key element of site investigations to determine if vapor migration from underlying soil into buildings is a completed exposure pathway (USEPA, 2002 US EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). Draft Guidance for Evaluating the Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway from Groundwater and Soils (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance). November2002.  [Google Scholar]; WIDHFS, 2003 WIDHFS (Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services). Chemical Vapor Intrusion and Residential Indoor Air, Guidance for Environmental Consultants and Contractors. June202004. Available at http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/eh/Air/fs/VI_prof.htm (accessed) [Google Scholar]; San Diego County, 2004 San Diego County Department of Environmental Health. Site Assessment and Mitigation (SAM) Manual. June202004. http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/deh/lwq/sam/vapor_risk_assessment_2000.html (accessed) [Google Scholar]; PADEP, 2004 PADEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection). Land Recycling Program Technical Guidance Manual-Section IV.A.4. June202004. Vapor Intrusion into Buildings from Groundwater and Soil under Act 2 Statewide Health Standard. Document Number 253-0300-100. http://www.dep.state.pa.us/eps/default.asp (accessed) [Google Scholar]). If volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are detected below the building foundation, then VOC migration from the subsurface is assumed to be occurring, and further investigation is needed to determine the extent of the VOC impact. These guidance documents are predicated on the assumption that VOCs detected in below-foundation samples have originated from deeper within the subsurface. However, detection of VOCs in below-foundation vapor samples alone is not sufficient to conclude that the VOCs are migrating from the subsurface upward towards a building. VOCs detected in below-foundation vapor samples can originate from indoor sources, migrating down through the slab by diffusion or advection. Commonly referenced conceptual models for vapor intrusion address VOC migration from the subsurface into buildings but do not consider the potential for VOC migration from buildings into the subsurface (USEPA, 2002 US EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). Draft Guidance for Evaluating the Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway from Groundwater and Soils (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance). November2002.  [Google Scholar]; Johnson and Ettinger, 1991 Johnson, P. C. and Ettinger, R. A. 1991. Heuristic model for the intrusion rate of contaminant vapors into buildings. Environ. Sci. Technol., 25(8): 1445–1452. [CSA][CROSSREF][Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]; Parker, 2003 Parker, J. C. 2003. Modeling volatile chemical transport, biodecay, and emission to indoor air. Ground Water Mon. Remed., 23(1): 107–120. [CSA][Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). The advective and diffusive forces that lead to the migration of VOCs from the subsurface into buildings are equally likely to result in the migration of VOCs from buildings into the subsurface when pressure or concentration gradients support such migration. In this paper we present: i) pressure gradient measurements indicating bi-directional advective flow across building foundations, ii) simple modeling indicating that indoor sources of VOCs may cause subsurface impacts through advection across the building foundation, and iii) field data from a site where indoor sources rather than subsurface contamination were the source of VOCs detected in below-foundation vapor samples.     

Toxicological Approach for Assessing the Heavy Metal Binding Capacity of Soils

A toxicological approach was taken to determine the heavy metal binding capacity of soils. A soil heavy metal binding capacity (SHMBC) methodology was developed and was based on the use of the MetPLATE ^TM toxicity test kit, a bioassay that is specific for heavy metal toxicity. SHMBC test is based on the heavy metal binding capacity (HMBC) concept that has been considered in the assessment of the metal binding capacity of surface waters (Huang et al., 1999 Huang, F., Bitton, G. and Kong, I.-C. 1999. Determination of the heavy metal binding capacity of aquatic samples using MetPLATE?: a preliminary study. Sci. Total Environ, 234: 139–145.  [Google Scholar]) and solid wastes landfill leachates (Ward et al., 2005 Ward, M., Bitton, G. and Townsend, T. 2005. Heavy metal binding capacity (HMBC) of municipal solid waste landfill leachates. Chemosphere, 60: 206–215. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). SHMBC is the ratio of the EC ₅₀ of an added metal in a soil sample divided by the EC ₅₀ of a metal in a reference soil (clean Ottawa sand). A higher SHMBC value indicates higher metal binding to soil and lower bioavailability and potential toxicity to the test bacteria.

Five soils (two sandy soils, two organic soils and a clay soil) were used to determine their binding capacity towards Cu, Zn, and Hg, using the developed SHMBC test. The test measured the ability of the solids to reduce metal bioavailability and toxicity. SHMBC was highest for the clay soil and lowest for the sandy soils. The potential application of this relatively rapid (a few hours) test to predict metal toxicity to terrestrial plants is discussed.     

Spirodesmos milanai n. isp.: A Shallow-Water Spiral Trace Fossil from the Cambrian of the Eastern Cordillera,Northwest Argentina

Abstract

A new ichnofossiliferous locality in Salta Province (northwest Argentina) contains an association with numerous irregular spiral traces assigned to Spirodesmos milanai n. isp., in mature sandstones and quartzites with rippled bedding surfaces, rare wavy lamination and cross-bedded stratification. This record of early spiral behavior is interpreted as a primitive grazing method formed on muddy laminae above sand layers, and is related to a feeding strategy of an annelid-type of organism. Associated traces are Cruziana cf. semiplicata, Diplocraterion isp., Monocraterion isp., Rusophycus isp., Skolithos linearis Haldeman and Skolithos magnus Howell. The ichnoassemblage is similar to a shallow-water ichnoassociation from the Permian Ecca Group of South Africa (Mason et al., 1983 Mason, T. R., Stanistreet, I. G. and Tavener-Smith, R. 1983. Spiral trace fossils from the Permian Ecca Group of Zululand. Lethaia, 16: 241–247. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Rejoinder to Drid Williams' Discussion

This discussion is a rejoinder to Drid Williams' discussion of the article “Church Festivals and the Visualization of Identity in Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea” [Hermkens 2007 2007 Church Festivals and the Visualization of Identity in Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea . Visual Anthropology , 20 ( 5 ): 347 – 364 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]].     

Refining ConsExpo Evaporation and Human Exposure Calculations for REACH

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of CHemicals) and other regulations require assessing potential exposure to substances in consumer products in order to determine if the potential risk from the product use is acceptable. In order to assess inhalation exposure due to evaporation of the volatile substance in a consumer product the vapor concentration must be determined. The vapor concentration may be measured or estimated using mathematical modeling. Both options have many advantages and disadvantages but because of the large number of substances and products to be evaluated, modeling is usually the first choice. The primary objective was to present an approach based on sound science to refine an exposure analysis by refining the mass transfer coefficient in the ConsExpo evaporation calculations for use in the subsequent inhalation exposure calculations. This study recommends use of the Sparks et al. (1996) Sparks, L E, Tichenor, B AChang, J. 1996. Gas-phase mass transfer model for predicting volatile organic compound (VOC) emission rates from indoor pollutant sources. Indoor Air, 6: 31–40. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] method for estimating the mass transfer coefficient for indoor evaporation. Three case studies demonstrated the Sparks method provided a better agreement of the predicted vapor concentrations to experimental results than the default mass transfer methods. A second objective was to critically evaluate the two ConsExpo default methods used to estimate the mass transfer coefficient and several limitations were identified.     

Korean Fan Dance for Fun: Performing Alterity in Contemporary Japan

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on performances of Korean folk culture in Japanese schools and communities to analyse how minority identities are constructed. Korean minority education in Japan has taken up the challenge of reversing the stigma attached to former colonial subjects, employing a range of tangible props what Twine (1999 Twine, France Winddance. 1999. Bearing Blackness in Britain: The Meaning of Raical Difference for White Birth Mothers of African-Descent Children. Social Identities, 5(2):185–210. doi: 10.1080/13504639951554[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) calls ‘racial literacy’ which prepares racial minority children to cope with and challenge racism at large. While embodying identity expression through Korean folk dance performances is an effective strategy, it faces constraints from larger social forces. Korean dance and music performances do little to challenge the dominance of mainstream values. These performances are embedded in everyday family, school, and community practices and paradoxically reproduce existing gender roles, broader pedagogical ideologies, and social structures. This ethnographic case study disentangles contradictions in minority education and shows commitment to alterity accompanies disavowal of alterity in relation to the hegemonic Japanese culture and society.     

Model for compression of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes

The new materials of carbon, solid C₆₀ and carbon nanotubes (CNT) [1 Chesnokov, S.A., Nalimova, V.A., Rinzler, A.G., Smalley, R.E. and Fischer, E. 1999. Mechanical energy storage in carbon nanotube springs. PRL, 82: 343[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar],4 V.K. Jindal, Shuchi Gupta, K. Dharamvir, Bulk and lattice properties for rigid carbon nanotubes materials. http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0008382  [Google Scholar]] are important for various technological applications. One of the reasons for their technological applications could be based upon the fact that they have a lot of empty space in their molecules as well as in their unit cells when bulk quantities of these are taken in the form of either C₆₀ solid or nanoropes. Their compressibility studies have revealed extremely interesting results showing tremendous reversible compression which has aroused curiosity and interest. CNT have been found to be compressible reversibly up to about 65% of their original volume when subjected to pressures of about 20 kbar. This enormous volume compression in such materials under moderate pressures is conceived to be of great significance for understanding and interpreting the mechanism based on molecular level understanding related to shock compression in these materials.

We undertake a model study accounting for unit cell deformations by applying pressures up to 3 Gpa and develop a pressure compression relation. We use the anharmonicity of the intermolecular potential energy to calculate Gruneisen parameters and the temperature increase due to an adiabatic pressure application. This work uses some components calculated from a rigid molecule model, whereas others are taken from experimental pressure compression data.     

Arsenic Ingestion and Bladder Cancer Mortality—What Do the Dose-Response Relationships Suggest About Mechanism?

The Black–Foot Disease (BFD) endemic area of SW Taiwan has historically been the principal data source for assessing cancer risks from arsenic in drinking water in the United States, most recently in a 42–village ecological study. The data showed a discontinuity for bladder cancer risk at about 400 μg/L. A proposed explanation was that the arsenic–dependent bladder cancer risk was found only for those villages that were dependent on water from the artesian well aquifer (As > 350 μg/L and co–contamination with humic acids) and not for those villages receiving water from the shallow aquifer (As < 350 μg/L without humic acids). The humic acids were present from the algae that grew in the uncovered tanks holding the artesian water. The risk factors (slopes) developed from these subpopulations of the SW Taiwan study were applied to the data from an ecological study of median groundwater arsenic concentration and bladder cancer mortality in 133 U.S. counties dependent on groundwater to determine the slope most predictive of U.S. experience for bladder cancer mortality and arsenic ingestion (Lamm et al. 2004 Lamm, S H, Engel, AKruse, M B. 2004. Arsenic in drinking water and bladder cancer mortality in the United States: An analysis based on 133 U.S. counties and 30 years of observation.. J Occup Environ Med, 46(3): 298–306. [PUBMED][INFOTRIEVE][CSA][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]).The U.S. data excluded the SW Taiwan slope estimate derived from the artesian well–dependent subpopulation but were consistent with the slope estimate derived from the subpopulation using shallow aquifer water. Both the SW Taiwan data in the absence of high arsenic levels (< 350 μg/L) and humic acids and the U.S. 133–county data with As < 60 μg/L are consistent with no increased bladder cancer mortality risk from drinking water arsenic concentrations in the exposure range of observation. These analytic results are consistent with both co–carcinogenesis and high–exposure (hundreds of μ g/L As) dependence models of toxicological mode–of–action. These dose–response relationships should influence prioritization in the remediation of arsenic–contaminated drinking water supplies.     

Source and Fate of Inorganic Soil Contamination Around the Abandoned Phillips Sulfide Mine,Hudson Highlands,New York

The abandoned Phillips sulfide mine in the critical Highlands watershed in New York has been shown to produce strongly acidic mine drainage (AMD) with anomalous metal contaminants in first-order streams that exceeded local water standards by up to several orders of magnitude (Gilchrist et al., 2009 Gilchrist, S., Gates, A., Szabo, Z. and Lamothe, P. J. 2009. Impact of AMD on water quality in critical watershed in the Hudson River drainage basin: Phillips Mine, Hudson Highlands, New York. Environ. Geol., 57: 397–409. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). The metal-sulfide-rich tailings also produce contaminated soils with pH < 4, organic matter < 2.5% and trace metals sequestered in soil oxides. A geochemical transect to test worst-case soil contamination showed that Cr, Co and Ni correlated positively with Mn, (r = 0.72, r = 0.89, r = 0.80, respectively), suggesting Mn-oxide sequestration and that Cu and Pb correlated with Fe (r = 0.76, r = 0.83, respectively), suggesting sequestration in goethite. Ubiquitous, yellow coating on the mine wastes, including jarosite and goethite, is a carrier of the metals. Geochemical and μ-SXRF analyses determined Cu to be the major soil contaminant. μ-SXRF also demonstrated that the heterogeneous nature of the soil chemistry at the micro-meter scale is self-similar to those in the bulk soil samples. Generally metals decreased, with some fluctuations, rapidly downslope through suspension of fines and dissolution in AMD leaving the area of substantial contamination << 0.5 km from the source.     

Intervention or Inversion: Australian Indigenous Justice and the Politics of Cultural Incompatibility

Australian Indigenous affairs are underscored by a central tension between the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, and assimilation policy premised on cultural homogeneity. This tension is most evident between the Northern Territory Government-commissioned Anderson and Wild (2007 Anderson, P. and Wild, R. Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: Little children are sacred. Report to the Northern Territory board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. Darwin: Northern Territory Government.  [Google Scholar]) report, entitled Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: Little children are sacred, which recommends the continuation of community-led programs in response to childhood sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, and the Commonwealth's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (NTNER), commonly known as ‘the intervention’, which Altman and Hinkson (2007 Altman, J. and Hinkson, M. 2007. Coercive reconciliation: Stabilise, normalise, exit Aboriginal Australia, Melbourne: Arena Publications.  [Google Scholar]) claim represents a ‘coercive’ attempt to dismantle Indigenous rights to manage their affairs. In her critique of cultural incompatibility (culturalism), McConaghy (2000 McConaghy, C. 2000. Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism and the politics of knowing, Flaxton: Post Pressed.  [Google Scholar]) observes that radicalism, or cultural difference policy in oppositional histories of power and control, seeks to invert colonial power relations. Instead, argues McConaghy, radicalism (much like assimilation) reinstitutes colonial relations of dominance. I draw on culturalism to explore the tension between Indigenous self-determination (a form of inversion), represented within the Little children are sacred report, and intervention, as a model not for coercive assimilation but for cultural integration (Sutton 2001a Sutton, P. 2001a. The politics of suffering: Indigenous policy in Australia since the 1970s. Anthropological Forum, 11: 125–173. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]; Pearson 2007 Pearson, N. 2007. The urgent quest for a radical political centre. The Age, 1 September Insight 11 [Google Scholar]). I propose that cultural inversion, as a justificatory model for addressing dysfunction within Indigenous communities, displaces the needs and rights of individuals for mainstream intervention.     

Taxonomy,morphology and molecular systematics of a new oligotrich ciliate,Williophrya maedai gen. nov., sp. nov., with redescriptions of Strombidium basimorphum and Pseudotontonia simplicidens (Protozoa,Ciliophora, Oligotrichia)

The morphology and small subunit rRNA (SSrRNA) gene sequence of a marine oligotrich ciliate, Williophrya maedai gen. nov., sp. nov., are reported. The new genus Williophrya is characterized by the adoral zone with no differentiation of membranelles, and the reduced somatic ciliature which comprises a bipartite girdle kinety only. In addition, the in vivo morphologies of two other oligotrichs, namely Strombidium basimorphum Martin & Montagnes, 1993 and Pseudotontonia simplicidens (Lynn & Gilron, 1993 Lynn, D. H. and Gilron, G. L. 1993. Strombidiid ciliates from coastal waters near Kingston Harbour, Jamaica (Ciliophora, Oligotrichia, Strombidiidae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73: 47–65. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) Agatha, 2004, are reported for the first time based on Chinese populations. Improved diagnoses of both species are supplied. The phylogenetic position of Williophrya maedai is investigated based on SSrRNA gene sequence data. These show that: (1) Williophrya maedai is most closely related to Strombidium purpureum and S. apolatum; (2) Williophrya is assigned to the family Strombidiidae although it has some unique morphological features regarding its oral and somatic ciliatures.     

Chemical Partitioning of Fe,Mn, Zn and Cr in Mountain Soils of the Iberian and Pyrenean Ranges (NE Spain)

The bioavailability of heavy metals, and thus their possible harmful impact on ecosystems and humans, depends on metal partitioning. This study describes the chemical partitioning of iron, manganese, zinc and chromium, because the potential effect of soil contamination is better assessed through the knowledge of the forms in which a given metal is present rather than the use of its total concentration. In four soil types representative of mountain soils in the Iberian and Pyrenean ranges in Aragón, a total of 16 selected sites have been sampled and five subsamples were taken in each site to create a composite sample. The 4 heavy metals have been extracted by the sequential extraction procedure of Tessier et al. (1979) Tessier, A., Campbell, P. G.C. and Bisson, N. 1979. Sequential extraction procedure for the speciation of particulate trace metals. Anal. Chem., 51: 844–850. [CROSSREF][Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] and analyzed by emission atomic spectrometry of solid state (ICP OES). Little Fe, Mn and Zn (< 1, 2.4–35.9, < 1–24.5 mg/kg, respectively) were retrieved from the exchangeable phase, a readily available phase for biogeochemistry cycles in the ecosystems. Chromium was not detected in the potentially bioavailable forms. The largest contents of Fe, Zn and Cr were retrieved from the residual phase with mean values of 21100, 72 and 60 mg/kg, and maximum values of 35700, 279 and 271 mg/kg, respectively. Mn was mainly bound to oxide phases with mean and maximum values of 236 and 887 mg/kg, respectively. For all metals, the highest contents are found in Leptosols on igneous rocks due to the rich and diverse mineral composition of their parent materials. The knowledge of the chemical partitioning of Fe, Mn, Zn and Cr provides information to identify the soils in which their mobile forms may be transferred to the soil-water-plant system. This information is of interest for the management of fragile mountain soils to avoid the environmental risk of cycling these metals in the environment.     

Wild Wunderpus photogenicus and Octopus cyanea employ asphyxiating ‘constricting’ in interactions with other octopuses

Aggressive constricting including asphyxiation was observed in wild octopuses (Octopus cyanea Gray, 1849, and Wunderpus photogenicus Hochberg, Norman & Finn, 2006 Hochberg, F.G., Norman, M.D. & Finn, J. (2006) Wunderpus photogenicus n. gen. and sp., a new Octopus from the shallow waters of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae). Molluscan Research 26, 128–140.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The distal portion of a dorsolateral arm formed a loop around the mantle of another octopus, in at least one case preventing the flow of water into the mantle, over the gills and out of the funnel. Constricting also may have prevented the subordinate individual from releasing ink, a possible irritant and predator attractant. A female O. cyanea used constricting as a form of fatal aggression to asphyxiate a male as part of apparent sexual cannibalism. This female killed a male with which she was mating using the ‘distance’ position. Constriction allowed a W. photogenicus to win during physical interspecific aggression with a close relative, Thaumoctopus mimicus Norman & Hochberg, 2005 Norman, M.D. & Hochberg, F.G. (2005) The ‘Mimic Octopus’ (Thaumoctopus mimicus n. gen. et. sp.), a new octopus from the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae). Molluscan Research 25, 57–70. [Google Scholar]. This action took place near an immediately available food source and interrupted foraging by T. mimicus, providing possible evidence of interference competition among closely related sympatric cephalopod species in the wild.