Presently the gold standard diagnostic technique for rabies is the direct immunofluorescence assay （dFA） which is very expensive and requires a high level of expertise. There is a need for more economical and user f...Presently the gold standard diagnostic technique for rabies is the direct immunofluorescence assay （dFA） which is very expensive and requires a high level of expertise. There is a need for more economical and user friendly tests, particularly for use in developing countries. We have established one such test called the direct rapid immunohistochemical test （dRIT） for diagnosis of rabies using brain tissue. The test is based on capture of rabies nucleoprotein （N） antigen in brain smears using a cocktail of biotinylated monoclonal antibodies specific for the N protein and color development by streptavidin peroxidase-amino ethyl carbazole and counter staining with haematoxollin. The test was done in parallel with standard FAT dFA using 400 brain samples from different animals and humans. The rabies virus N protein appears under fight microscope as reddish brown particles against a light blue background. There was 100 % correlation between the results obtained by the two tests. Also, interpretation of results by dRIT was easier and only required a light microscope. To conclude, this newly developed dRIT technique promises to be a simple, cost effective diagnostic tool for rabies and will have applicability in field conditions prevalent in developing countries.展开更多
A 21-day laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of pesticides (insecticide, herbicide, fungicide) on paddy field soil health under controlled moisture (flooded soil) and temperature (...A 21-day laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of pesticides (insecticide, herbicide, fungicide) on paddy field soil health under controlled moisture (flooded soil) and temperature (25 ℃) environment. The electron transport system (ETS)/Dehydrogenase activity showed negative correlation with pesticides concentrations, decreased with increase of pesticide concentration. The higher doses(5 to 10 times field rates) of pesticides significantly inhibited ETS activity, while lower rates failed to produce any significant reducing effect on the control. The toxicity of pesticides in decreasing the ETS activity was in the order: insecticide > fungicide > herbicide, irrespective of their rates of application. The pesticides increased the soil phenol content, which increased with increasing concentration of agrochemicals. The pesticide application did not produce any significant change in soil protein content. The response of biomass phospholipid content was nearly similar to that of ETS activity. The phospholipid content decreased with the addition of pesticides in the order insecticide > fungicide > herbicide and the toxicity was in the order: 10 FR (field rate) > 5 FR > 1.0 FR > 0.5 FR > control.展开更多
Jack London was one of the outstanding American writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Call of the Wild which was based on the Klondike Gold Rush, was the most famous and popular one in China....Jack London was one of the outstanding American writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Call of the Wild which was based on the Klondike Gold Rush, was the most famous and popular one in China. These years, lots of scholars have discussed it from various aspects, such as the contents, the themes, the writing styles and its characters. In this short novel, the protagonist Buck is humanized by the author. He is endowed with lots of human qualities, such as loyalty, brave, self-esteem, intelligence and so on. What are the reasons of humanization of the dog protagonist.？ Finding out the reasons could help us understand this novel better and it may offer some references for the research on Jack London＇ s animal novels.展开更多
Human beings do not live in nature, they live in culture. Contrary to biological evolution, which is based on genetic inheritance, cultural change is transmitted by instruction. Simple beginnings of culture have been ...Human beings do not live in nature, they live in culture. Contrary to biological evolution, which is based on genetic inheritance, cultural change is transmitted by instruction. Simple beginnings of culture have been observed in various animals. However, the much advanced human culture became possible by its transmission by language, and by its being cumulative. The concept of cultural change as a progressive process, popular by 18th and 19th centuries thinkers, is nowadays rejected, and the uniqueness of each culture stressed. Although, there are some similarities between biological evolution and cultural change, important differences between these processes are emphasized. The rapid rate of cultural change （especially its technological aspect）, as compared to the rate of biological evolution, is noted. In addition, some cultural changes led to new phenomena, which in a time of crisis can be annulled. The possible consequences of the different rate of these two processes for humans as individuals, and for their societies are discussed.展开更多
Xiangshan bay is a narrow semi-closed bay and situated on the northwestern coast of the East China Sea. Over past decades, it has become to a major bay with intensive human activities, dense urbanized area, and poor w...Xiangshan bay is a narrow semi-closed bay and situated on the northwestern coast of the East China Sea. Over past decades, it has become to a major bay with intensive human activities, dense urbanized area, and poor water quality. The aim of this paper was to reveal the ecological status through the elucidation of the species composition, abundance, biomass and diversity of macrobenthos in this bay. Six intertidal sections were surveyed from January 2007 to November 2008 quarterly. Sections TG, HD and XH are located in the three inner bays, sections QJ and WS are located near the thermal power plants, and section XX is located at the outer part of Xiangshan Bay. Great variations in macrobenthos community were indentified, and the species composition of the community in the present study showed the dominance in the order of molluscs （bivalves and gastropods）, crustaceans and others, and only few Polychaeta were recorded. Only three dominant species, Littorina brevicula, llyplax tansuiensis, and Cerithidea cingu- lata were collected in all the sections, and a total of 19 dominant species were recorded only in one section. Two-way ANOVA analyses of abundance indicated that there were significant differences among sections or seasons. Shannon-Wiener diversity index （H＇） had its maximum （2.45） in section QJ, and minimum （1.76） in section TG Multiple irregular k-dominance plots clearly showed that the study area was polluted and the macrobenthos community was under stress. We conclude that the macrobenthos of Xiang- shan Bay have been disturbed by human activities, especially at the interior bay.展开更多
Nonhuman culture was first considered in nonhuman primates because they are genetically similar to humans. How- ever, evolution is not progressive and therefore many species may occupy niches that favor socially trans...Nonhuman culture was first considered in nonhuman primates because they are genetically similar to humans. How- ever, evolution is not progressive and therefore many species may occupy niches that favor socially transmitted, group specific behavior. Not surprisingly, evidence for culture has accrued in several taxonomic groups, including cetaceans. If culture is an ada- ptation, it is imperative we understand the factors that favor its formation. Understanding the evolutionary origin of culture will allow for a wider range of species to be studied, including those that are difficult to test in the laboratory. I propose a broad-based functional paradigm for evaluating nonhuman culture; based on the idea that while not all cultural behaviors may garner fitness benefits to the individual, the ecological and social environments in which cultural behaviors evolved must have favored the physical attributes and social learning capabilities that allow for cultural formation. Specifically this framework emphasizes the relationships between social learning, ecology, social systems, and biology in relation to culture. I illustrate the utility of the func- tional paradigm with evidence from the ceteacean group, while setting the stage for a stringent species by species analysis. By means of contextualizing culture, the Functional Paradigm can evaluate a species＇ potential to exhibit culture and can investigate potentially cultural behaviors展开更多
Physiological and functional traits, especially those related to behavior and whole-organism performance capacities, are subject to a variety of both parallel and opposing natural and sexual selection pressures. These...Physiological and functional traits, especially those related to behavior and whole-organism performance capacities, are subject to a variety of both parallel and opposing natural and sexual selection pressures. These selection pressures show considerable interspeciflc variation, shaping contemporary behavioral and functional diversity, but the form and intensity of selection on physiological and functional traits can also vary intraspecifically. The same suites of traits can experience quite different se- lection pressures, depending on the sex or age of a given individual, as well as the presence and nature of alternative reproductive strategies and tactics. These inter- and intra-locus genetic conflicts have potentially important consequences for the evolutionary trajectories of traits subject to them. Consequently, any intraspecific conflicts which could displace traits from their selective op- tima in certain classes of individuals relative to others are expected to result in selection for mechanisms to compensate for devia- tion from those optima. Such conflicts include interlocus sexual conflict, intralocus sexual conflict, and interacting phenotypes, as well as conflict within a sex. In this paper, we consider the evidence for, and implications of, such conflicts for physiological and functional traits in diverse taxa, including both vertebrates and invertebrates, and evaluate the various mechanisms, ranging from behavioral and mechanical to energetic and genetic, enabling compensation. We also discuss how pre- and post-mating conflicts, as well as interacting phenotypes, might affect the evolution of behavior and physiological and functional traits. Investigators that seek to understand the links among behavior, morphology, physiology, and function should consider such conflicts.展开更多
Land use and land cover change(LULCC) strongly influence regional and global climate by combining both biochemical and biophysical processes. However, the biophysical process was often ignored, which may offset the bi...Land use and land cover change(LULCC) strongly influence regional and global climate by combining both biochemical and biophysical processes. However, the biophysical process was often ignored, which may offset the biogeochemical effects, so measures to address climate change could not reach the target. Thus, the biophysical influence of LULCC is critical for understanding observed climate changes in the past and potential scenarios in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the mechanisms and effects of large-scale LULCC on climate change through changing the underlying surface, and thus the energy balance. The key scientific issues on understanding the impacts of human activities on global climate that must be addressed including:(1) what are the basic scientific facts of spatial and temporal variations of LULCC in China and comparative countries?(2) How to understand the coupling driving mechanisms of human activities and climate change on the LULCC and then to forecasting the future scenarios?(3) What are the scientific mechanisms of LULCC impacts on biophysical processes of land surface, and then the climate?(4) How to estimate the contributions of LULCC to climate change by affecting biophysical processes of land surface? By international comparison, the impacts of LULCC on climate change at the local, regional and global scales were revealed and evaluated. It can provide theoretical basis for the global change, and have great significance to mitigate and adapt to global climate changes.展开更多
文摘Presently the gold standard diagnostic technique for rabies is the direct immunofluorescence assay （dFA） which is very expensive and requires a high level of expertise. There is a need for more economical and user friendly tests, particularly for use in developing countries. We have established one such test called the direct rapid immunohistochemical test （dRIT） for diagnosis of rabies using brain tissue. The test is based on capture of rabies nucleoprotein （N） antigen in brain smears using a cocktail of biotinylated monoclonal antibodies specific for the N protein and color development by streptavidin peroxidase-amino ethyl carbazole and counter staining with haematoxollin. The test was done in parallel with standard FAT dFA using 400 brain samples from different animals and humans. The rabies virus N protein appears under fight microscope as reddish brown particles against a light blue background. There was 100 % correlation between the results obtained by the two tests. Also, interpretation of results by dRIT was easier and only required a light microscope. To conclude, this newly developed dRIT technique promises to be a simple, cost effective diagnostic tool for rabies and will have applicability in field conditions prevalent in developing countries.
文摘A 21-day laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of pesticides (insecticide, herbicide, fungicide) on paddy field soil health under controlled moisture (flooded soil) and temperature (25 ℃) environment. The electron transport system (ETS)/Dehydrogenase activity showed negative correlation with pesticides concentrations, decreased with increase of pesticide concentration. The higher doses(5 to 10 times field rates) of pesticides significantly inhibited ETS activity, while lower rates failed to produce any significant reducing effect on the control. The toxicity of pesticides in decreasing the ETS activity was in the order: insecticide > fungicide > herbicide, irrespective of their rates of application. The pesticides increased the soil phenol content, which increased with increasing concentration of agrochemicals. The pesticide application did not produce any significant change in soil protein content. The response of biomass phospholipid content was nearly similar to that of ETS activity. The phospholipid content decreased with the addition of pesticides in the order insecticide > fungicide > herbicide and the toxicity was in the order: 10 FR (field rate) > 5 FR > 1.0 FR > 0.5 FR > control.
文摘Jack London was one of the outstanding American writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Call of the Wild which was based on the Klondike Gold Rush, was the most famous and popular one in China. These years, lots of scholars have discussed it from various aspects, such as the contents, the themes, the writing styles and its characters. In this short novel, the protagonist Buck is humanized by the author. He is endowed with lots of human qualities, such as loyalty, brave, self-esteem, intelligence and so on. What are the reasons of humanization of the dog protagonist.？ Finding out the reasons could help us understand this novel better and it may offer some references for the research on Jack London＇ s animal novels.
文摘Human beings do not live in nature, they live in culture. Contrary to biological evolution, which is based on genetic inheritance, cultural change is transmitted by instruction. Simple beginnings of culture have been observed in various animals. However, the much advanced human culture became possible by its transmission by language, and by its being cumulative. The concept of cultural change as a progressive process, popular by 18th and 19th centuries thinkers, is nowadays rejected, and the uniqueness of each culture stressed. Although, there are some similarities between biological evolution and cultural change, important differences between these processes are emphasized. The rapid rate of cultural change （especially its technological aspect）, as compared to the rate of biological evolution, is noted. In addition, some cultural changes led to new phenomena, which in a time of crisis can be annulled. The possible consequences of the different rate of these two processes for humans as individuals, and for their societies are discussed.
基金financial support from the Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau and the Ningbo Oceanology and Fishery Bureau for Technology and Research of Marine Ecological Environmental Protection and Restoration of Xiangshan Bay (No. 2006C 10030)
文摘Xiangshan bay is a narrow semi-closed bay and situated on the northwestern coast of the East China Sea. Over past decades, it has become to a major bay with intensive human activities, dense urbanized area, and poor water quality. The aim of this paper was to reveal the ecological status through the elucidation of the species composition, abundance, biomass and diversity of macrobenthos in this bay. Six intertidal sections were surveyed from January 2007 to November 2008 quarterly. Sections TG, HD and XH are located in the three inner bays, sections QJ and WS are located near the thermal power plants, and section XX is located at the outer part of Xiangshan Bay. Great variations in macrobenthos community were indentified, and the species composition of the community in the present study showed the dominance in the order of molluscs （bivalves and gastropods）, crustaceans and others, and only few Polychaeta were recorded. Only three dominant species, Littorina brevicula, llyplax tansuiensis, and Cerithidea cingu- lata were collected in all the sections, and a total of 19 dominant species were recorded only in one section. Two-way ANOVA analyses of abundance indicated that there were significant differences among sections or seasons. Shannon-Wiener diversity index （H＇） had its maximum （2.45） in section QJ, and minimum （1.76） in section TG Multiple irregular k-dominance plots clearly showed that the study area was polluted and the macrobenthos community was under stress. We conclude that the macrobenthos of Xiang- shan Bay have been disturbed by human activities, especially at the interior bay.
文摘Nonhuman culture was first considered in nonhuman primates because they are genetically similar to humans. How- ever, evolution is not progressive and therefore many species may occupy niches that favor socially transmitted, group specific behavior. Not surprisingly, evidence for culture has accrued in several taxonomic groups, including cetaceans. If culture is an ada- ptation, it is imperative we understand the factors that favor its formation. Understanding the evolutionary origin of culture will allow for a wider range of species to be studied, including those that are difficult to test in the laboratory. I propose a broad-based functional paradigm for evaluating nonhuman culture; based on the idea that while not all cultural behaviors may garner fitness benefits to the individual, the ecological and social environments in which cultural behaviors evolved must have favored the physical attributes and social learning capabilities that allow for cultural formation. Specifically this framework emphasizes the relationships between social learning, ecology, social systems, and biology in relation to culture. I illustrate the utility of the func- tional paradigm with evidence from the ceteacean group, while setting the stage for a stringent species by species analysis. By means of contextualizing culture, the Functional Paradigm can evaluate a species＇ potential to exhibit culture and can investigate potentially cultural behaviors
文摘Physiological and functional traits, especially those related to behavior and whole-organism performance capacities, are subject to a variety of both parallel and opposing natural and sexual selection pressures. These selection pressures show considerable interspeciflc variation, shaping contemporary behavioral and functional diversity, but the form and intensity of selection on physiological and functional traits can also vary intraspecifically. The same suites of traits can experience quite different se- lection pressures, depending on the sex or age of a given individual, as well as the presence and nature of alternative reproductive strategies and tactics. These inter- and intra-locus genetic conflicts have potentially important consequences for the evolutionary trajectories of traits subject to them. Consequently, any intraspecific conflicts which could displace traits from their selective op- tima in certain classes of individuals relative to others are expected to result in selection for mechanisms to compensate for devia- tion from those optima. Such conflicts include interlocus sexual conflict, intralocus sexual conflict, and interacting phenotypes, as well as conflict within a sex. In this paper, we consider the evidence for, and implications of, such conflicts for physiological and functional traits in diverse taxa, including both vertebrates and invertebrates, and evaluate the various mechanisms, ranging from behavioral and mechanical to energetic and genetic, enabling compensation. We also discuss how pre- and post-mating conflicts, as well as interacting phenotypes, might affect the evolution of behavior and physiological and functional traits. Investigators that seek to understand the links among behavior, morphology, physiology, and function should consider such conflicts.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.41371409,No.41371019Global Change Scientific Research Program of China,No.2010CB950900
文摘Land use and land cover change(LULCC) strongly influence regional and global climate by combining both biochemical and biophysical processes. However, the biophysical process was often ignored, which may offset the biogeochemical effects, so measures to address climate change could not reach the target. Thus, the biophysical influence of LULCC is critical for understanding observed climate changes in the past and potential scenarios in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the mechanisms and effects of large-scale LULCC on climate change through changing the underlying surface, and thus the energy balance. The key scientific issues on understanding the impacts of human activities on global climate that must be addressed including:(1) what are the basic scientific facts of spatial and temporal variations of LULCC in China and comparative countries?(2) How to understand the coupling driving mechanisms of human activities and climate change on the LULCC and then to forecasting the future scenarios?(3) What are the scientific mechanisms of LULCC impacts on biophysical processes of land surface, and then the climate?(4) How to estimate the contributions of LULCC to climate change by affecting biophysical processes of land surface? By international comparison, the impacts of LULCC on climate change at the local, regional and global scales were revealed and evaluated. It can provide theoretical basis for the global change, and have great significance to mitigate and adapt to global climate changes.
