Distribution,sources, and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dust from urban environment in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

The concentrations of the 16 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in urban street dust with a view to understanding the potential risk to urban residents exposed to street dust, sources, and distribution of the PAHs. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to measure the concentrations of the PAHs after ultra-sonication with hexane/dichloromethane and clean up. The total concentrations of the ?16 PAHs in the urban street dust from Warri and its environs ranged from 165.1 to 1012 µg kg^?1. The isomeric ratios and the PCA indicated that combustion of petroleum and biomass are the major sources of PAHs in Warri and its environs. The total BaP carcinogenic and mutagenic potency concentrations (?BaP_TEQ and ?BaP_MEQ) were in the range of 0.03 to 219 µg kg^?1 and 0.52 to 182 µg kg^?1, respectively. The incremental life cancer risk from exposure of the residents of Warri and its environs ranged from 4.07 × 10^?7 to 3.11 × 10^?3 and 2.13 × 10^?7 to 1.49 × 10^?3 for the children and adults, respectively, which were higher than the baseline value of acceptable risk of 10^?6 (i.e., one case per million people).     

长江三角洲麦／玉米—稻新种植制度高产稳产的生态学原理研究

为在长江三角洲地区发展麦／玉米-稻新三熟种植制度,通过大量的田间试验和生产调查,对该熟制高产稳产的生态学原理进行了系统分析结果表明．春玉米在该地生态适应性较好,麦玉米套作中的作物种间关系以互补为主,三熟制资源利用率提高20％以上,能改善土壤物理性状和农田生态环境,并有内部有机物质投入保障,以及三熟制耐连作是其高产稳产的根本所在．     

中国长江中下游地区贝母属的修订

本文对长江中下游地区的贝母属进行了修订,确认该地区有3种1变种,新归并14种5变种。     

Response of Salvinia spp. to different nitrogen sources: the acid-base regulation approach

This paper shows the importance of acid-base analyses and ¹³C measurements in the evaluation of the responses of Salvinia species' responses to different N sources. It also highlights the importance of these methodologies as potential tools in the study of differences between habitats and nutrient acquisition, particularly N. This study used three different species of Salvinia cultured in the absence of combined N or in the presence of either NO _inf3 ^sup– or NH _inf4 ^sup+ as N sources. The interaction between NO _inf3 ^sup– or NH _inf4 ^sup+ as N source and organic acid metabolism, and the information on diazotrophy from the organic acid measurements, were also examined. Nevertheless, the results presented may not be used per se to assign diazotrophy. Carboxylate (C-A) levels in the different Salvinia species are much lower than the norm for bryophytes and tracheophytes, consistent with previously published work on Azolla. This might be related to the aquatic life form of these plants, since they seem to have no potential to increase the availability of Fe or P by the acidification of their rooting medium (water) that a larger net synthesis of organic acids, with cation-H⁺ exchange, could achieve.     

基于地理环境相似度的长江经济带入侵物种虚拟负样本生成方法

入侵物种空间分布建模的核心数据源来源于物种多样性采样(物种出现点和未出现点),然而,大多数入侵物种标本库只记录物种出现点样本信息,缺乏对未出现点(负样本)位置的记录。因此,生成有效的入侵物种虚拟负样本是建立物种空间分布模型的关键。本文提出了一种基于地理环境相似度的虚拟负样本生成方法。首先利用主成分分析(PCA)方法对地理环境原始变量进行线性相关性建模,基于提取的主成分,采用K-means算法对入侵物种样本进行聚类分析并计算各样本的地理环境相似度。在此基础上,通过建立基于主成分的入侵物种相似性度量与可信度计算框架来识别虚拟负样本。以长江经济带入侵物种一年蓬(Erigeron annuus)数据集为例,分析了整个区域虚拟负样本的可信度。结果表明,与空间随机采样和单类支持向量机采样相比,用本研究提出的方法生成的样本数据建立的logistic回归和支持向量机预测结果更优,验证了该方法的可行性与有效性。基于地理环境相似度的虚拟负样本抽样策略有助于解决由于随机采样而引起的误采样到潜在入侵点的难题,同时负样本的可信度能有助于识别不同等级的入侵物种适应区。     

Importance of flood zones for nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in the Danube Delta

The change of concentration of total reactive phosphorus (TRP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was studied in the lower Danube river and in selected lakes situated in the wetland area of the Danube Delta. The differences Danube Delta in nutrient concentration in the river waters entering the delta and the delta in different sites (especially lakes) of the wetland area are considered to reflect retention in the system. The highest retention was found in periods of moderate and low water level when the surface-to-volume ratio of the lakes was high. In these periods the in-lake concentration of TRP and DIN could be as low as 11 and 23% of the values found in the inflowing river.     

Regulation of proline catabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO

Mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa deficient in the utilization of l-proline as the only carbon and nitrogen source have been found to be defective either in proline dehydrogenase activity or in both proline dehydrogenase and ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activities of the bifunctional proline degradative enzyme. The latter type of mutants was unable to utilize l-ornithine, indicating that a single ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activity is involved in the degradation of ornithine and proline. Proline dehydrogenase and ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activities were strongly and coordinately induced by proline. It was excluded that ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate acted as an inducer of the bifunctional enzyme and it was shown that the low level induction observed during growth on ornithine was due to the intracellular formation of proline. The formation of the proline degradative enzyme was shown to be subject to catabolite repression by citrate and nitrogen control.Abbreviations EMS Ethylmethane sulfonate - NG N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine - P Minimal medium P - Pro-DH Proline dehydro-genase - P5C ¹-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate - P5C-DH ¹-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase     

Pain modulation by adrenergic agents and morphine as measured by three pain tests

The effects of several adrenergic agents on pain and morphine analgesia were assessed using three pain tests in rats. These tests--Tail-Flick, Hot-Plate, and Formalin--allow comparison of the effects of different noxious stimuli and different motor responses. Each pain test yielded a unique constellation of adrenergic influences, suggesting that variation of stimulus and response parameters can change the functional expression of adrenergic systems related to pain processing. The salient drug effects include: 1) a pronounced, relatively selective analgesic effect of yohimbine in the Hot-Plate test; 2) a selective analgesic effect of clonidine in the Formalin test; 3) a strikiny, but variable, antagonism of morphine analgesia by a combination of yohimbine and propranolol in the Formalin test; 4) a nonlinear dose-response curve for antagonism of morphine analgesia by propranolol in the Hot-Plate test; and 5) a generalized interference with pain responding and enhancement of morphine analgesia by most drrgs in the Formalin test. The data suggest that the type of pain test is crucial in determining the pattern of drug influences that is revealed.     

N6-(Δ2-Isopentenyl) adenine inhibits the alcohol dehydrogenase activity in cell-free extracts of Zymomonas mobilis

The plant growth substance N⁶-(²-isopentenyl) adenine (i⁶Ade) significantly inhibits the rates of ethanol oxidation and acetaldehyde reduction in vitro by cell-free extracts of Zymomonas mobilis and of an Escherichia coli recombinant strain, containing the Z. mobilis adhB gene. The two-substrate kinetics of ethanol oxidation (forward) is affected by increasing values of dissociation constants for coenzyme and coenzyme —enzyme complexes in the presence of i⁶Ade, whereas the reaction maximum velocity (V _m) remains unchanged and reflects the competitive type of inhibition. Changes of the kinetic constants of acetaldehyde reduction (back) are similar, except the increasing value of V _m and correspond to the CIS (competitive inhibition and stimulation) type of inhibition. The estimated values of inhibition constants of the forward and back reactions are 0.39 ± 0.05 mM and 0.19 ± 0.06 mM, respectively.     

Role of fatty acids of (n-3) and (n-6) series on α-linolenic acid desaturation and chain elongation in HTC cells

Summary The desaturation and chain elongation of [1-¹⁴C] -linolenic acid were studied in HTC cells preincubated for 24 h in the presence of different unlabeled fatty acids of (n-3) and (n-6) series. After 24 h in the presence of [1-¹⁴C] -18:3, cells transformed this acid into labeled 20:5 and 22:5(n-3) through the desaturation-elongation pathway and into 20:3 and 22:3(n-3) by the elongation reactions. The preincubation of HTC cells with (n-3) fatty acids (-18:3, 20:5 and 22:6) produced an increase in the amount of [1-¹⁴C] -18:3 that remained in the cells without being metabolized and consequently, a decrease in the last product formed, the 22:5(n-3) was observed. Simultaneously, the desaturation-elongation products decreased significantly and those of the elongation pathway were not modified, except when the cells were pre-incubated with the last fatty acid of this family (22:6) which increased this metabolic route. Fatty acids of (n-6) series (-18:3, 20:3, 20:4 and 22:4) decreased the desaturation-elongation pathway and increased the elongation route from [1-¹⁴C] -18:3. From these results, it can be concluded that fatty acids of (n-3) family and intermediates of (n-6) series would impair the [1-¹⁴C] -18:3 metabolism at the 6 desaturation step. The fatty acid composition of the cells was also modified by the preincubation with (n-3) and (n-6) acids showing a decrease on 9 desaturation activity.