Regulation of Tilapia metallothionein gene expression by heavy metal ions   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

Cheung AP  Lam TH  Chan KM 《Marine environmental research》2004,58(2-5):389-394

Tilapia is a common fish species inhabiting inland waters and estuarine regions in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and useful for bio-monitoring of metal pollution. Metallothionein (MT) gene expression in fish tissues has been useful to sub-lethal risk assessment as biomarker of exposure to metal ions in fishes inhabiting metal contaminated area. To investigate metal inductions of Tilapia MT gene expression in vivo, Tilapias were injected with different concentrations of heavy metals and tissues were then removed for quantitative PCR assay using mimic PCR methods. All of the metal ions tested (Cu(2+), Cd(2+), Hg(2+), Ni(2+), Pb(2+) and Zn(2+)) were able to induce hepatic MT mRNA levels. Renal MT mRNA levels of Cd(2+) and Zn(2+) treated fish was not induced with significant fold induction, however MT mRNA levels in gills were sensitive to the administrations of these metal ions. These data indicated that Tilapia MT mRNA levels in gills and liver are sensitive biomarker of exposure to various metal ions.  相似文献   

Modelling phytoplankton succession on the Bering Sea shelf: role of climate influences and trophic interactions in generating Emiliania huxleyi blooms 1997–2000     

Agostino Merico  Toby Tyrrell  Evelyn J. Lessard  Temel Oguz  Phyllis J. Stabeno  Stephan I. Zeeman  Terry E. Whitledge 《Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers》2004,51(12):1929

Several years of continuous physical and biological anomalies have been affecting the Bering Sea shelf ecosystem starting from 1997. Such anomalies reached their peak in a striking visual phenomenon: the first appearance in the area of bright waters caused by massive blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (E. huxleyi). This study is intended to provide an insight into the mechanisms of phytoplankton succession in the south-eastern part of the shelf during such years and addresses the causes of E. huxleyi success by means of a 2-layer ecosystem model, field data and satellite-derived information. A number of potential hypotheses are delineated based on observations conducted in the area and on previous knowledge of E. huxleyi general ecology. Some of these hypotheses are then considered as causative factors and explored with the model. The unusual climatic conditions of 1997 resulted most notably in a particularly shallow mixed layer depth and high sea surface temperature (about 4 °C above climatological mean). Despite the fact that the model could not reproduce for E. huxleyi a clear non-bloom to bloom transition (pre- vs. post-1997), several tests suggest that this species was favoured by the shallow mixed layer depth in conjunction with a lack of photoinhibition. A top-down control by microzooplankton selectively grazing phytoplankton other than E. huxleyi appears to be responsible for the long persistence of the blooms. Interestingly, observations reveal that the high N:P ratio hypothesis, regarded as crucial in the formation of blooms of this species in previous studies, does not hold on the Bering Sea shelf.  相似文献   

Laser action in stellar envelopes     

Y. P. Varshni  C. S. Lam 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1976,45(1):87-97

It is shown that in high-temperature stars in which high speed mass loss is occurring, the rapidly recombining plasma in the stellar envelope can act as an amplifying medium. Model calculations for laser action in Heii 4686, using the collisional-radiative model, are presented. Menzel's hypothesis of laser action in distended stellar atmospheres is shown to be fully substantiated. The relevance of these results in resolving the problem of intensity anomalies in the spectra of Wolf-Rayet stars is pointed out.  相似文献   

The cascading of cosmic-ray nuclei in various media     

Phyllis S. Freier  C. J. Waddington 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1975,38(2):419-436

More than a thousand interactions of primary heavy nuclei of the cosmic radiation with charge ≥10 and energy >1 GeV nucleon^?1 in nuclear emulsion have been studied with emphasis on how the primary nucleus fragments. It has been determined that the cases of multiple successive fragmentations that have been observed do not occur more frequently than expected. The fragmentation ofZ>20 nuclei does depend on the target nucleus to some extent so it is important to try to separate the interactions in emulsion by theirN _h (number of evaporation prongs). The fragmentation of ₈ ¹⁶ O at 2.1 GeV nucleon^?1 measured at the Bevalac shows a similar dependence on target nucleus. By using data from these new interactions combined with published data we have simulated on a computer nuclear cascades in both emulsion and air. Results on these cascades are given for both primary silicon and primary iron nuclei. These results are used to discuss the fluctuations expected in extensive air showers produced by heavy primary nuclei.  相似文献   

Relationships between tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons (polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated pesticides) and antioxidative responses of marine mussels, Perna viridis     

C. C. C. Cheung  G. J. Zheng  P. K. S. Lam  B. J. Richardson 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,45(1-12)

Marine mussels, Perna viridis, were transplanted from a reference site to various polluted sites around Hong Kong. After 30 d of exposure, antioxidative responses in the gills and hepatopancreas and tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides (CPs)] were determined for individual mussels. Glutathione S transferase (GST) and glutathione (GSH) were positively correlated with tissue PCB concentrations. Only one of the enzymatic antioxidants, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), showed significant response to tissue PCB. No significant correlation was found between tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons and other enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and NADPH DT-diaphorase (DT-d). Oxidative stress, measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, was correlated with chlorinated pesticide concentrations in tissues. This study demonstrated a correlation between GST/GSH and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The apparent lack of correlation between trace organic pollutants and some of the enzymatic antioxidants may be due to the inhibitory effects caused by these chemicals. The above results suggest that more investigations are needed before these enzymes can be used as biomarkers.  相似文献   

Mathematical modeling of PCB bioaccumulation in Perna viridis     

K. N. Yu  P. K. S. Lam  C. C. C. Cheung  C. W. Y. Yip 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,45(1-12)

In the present work, we built a mathematical model of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) bioaccumulation in Perna viridis, namely, a one-compartment model with a time dependent incorporation rate R (μg g⁻¹ lipid per ppb water per day), with positive substrate cooperativity as the underlying physical mechanism. The temporal change of the PCB concentration Q (μg g⁻¹ lipid) in the soft tissues of the mussel depends on the competition of the input rate RW and the output rate kQ, where W is the concentration of PCB in water (ppb water) and k is the elimination rate (per day). From our experimental data, k=0.181±0.017 d⁻¹. The critical concentration in water W_c for positive substrate cooperativity was found to be 2.4 ppb. Below W_c, R is a constant. For a water concentration of 0.5 ppb Aroclor 1254, R=24.0±2.4 μg g⁻¹ lipid ppb⁻¹ d⁻¹. Above W_c, positive substrate cooperativity comes into effect and R becomes a function of time and dependent on the concentration Q in a form R=γQ/(Q+δ). This is the case for a water concentration of 5 ppb Aroclor 1254, where γ=15.1 μg g⁻¹ lipid ppb⁻¹ d¹ and δ≈200 μg g⁻¹ lipid. From this model, the uptake is exponentially increasing when the PCB concentration in the mussel is small compared to 200 μg g⁻¹ lipid, and hyperbolically increasing when the concentration is large compared to 200 μg g⁻¹ lipid, which are consistent with the experimental data. The model is useful for understanding the true processes taking place during the bioaccumulation and for risk assessment with higher confidence. Future experimental data which challenge the present model are anticipated and in fact desirable for improvement and perfection of the model.  相似文献   

Computer Simulation of Shaped Charge Detonation Using Meshless Particle Method   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

M. B. Liu  G. R. Liu  K. Y. Lam  Z. Zong 《Fragblast: International Journal for Blasting and Fragmentation》2003,7(3):181-202

Shaped charges are widely applied in the defense industry and civil engineering for penetrating hardened targets. Simulations of shaped charges are generally based on traditional grid-based numerical methods. Different from the existing literature, the SPH method is applied in this paper to simulate the detonation process of shaped charge explosive. The combination of the meshless, Lagrangian and particle nature inherent in the SPH method is very attractive in dealing with large deformations and large inhomogeneities in extremely transient situations such as detonation process. The SPH method and some related numerical aspects are briefly discussed first, followed by applications in simulating shaped charge detonations. The effects of different detonation cavity angles and different charge head lengths are investigated. The results demonstrate that major shaped charge detonation phenomena are captured with revealing observations.  相似文献   

Numerical simulation of a South China Sea typhoon Leo (1999)   总被引：6，自引：0，他引：6  

K.-H. Lau  Z.-F. Zhang  H.-Y. Lam  S.-J. Chen 《Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics》2003,83(3-4):147-161

Summary ?A South China Sea typhoon, Leo (1999), was simulated using the Penn State/NCAR mesoscale model MM5 with the Betts-Miller convective parameterization scheme (BMEX). The simulation had two nested domains with resolutions at 54 and 18 km, and the forecast duration was 36 hours. The model was quite successful in predicting the track, the rapid deepening, the central pressure, and the maximum wind speed of typhoon Leo as verified with reports from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). The structure of the eye, the eye wall, and the spiral convective cloud band simulated in the model are found to be comparable to corresponding features identified in satellite images for the storm, and also with those reported by other authors. A trajectory analysis was performed. Three kinds of trajectory were found: (1) spirally rising trajectories near the eye wall; (2) spirally rising/descending trajectories in the convective/cloud free belt; (3) straight and fast rising trajectories in a heavy convection zone along one of the cloud bands on the periphery of the tropical cyclone. Both the HKO and the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported the rapid deepening of Leo started around 00 UTC 29 April. In the model, the eye was first formed in the lower troposphere, and it extended to the upper troposphere within a few hours. We speculate that the spin-up of cyclonic rotation in the low-level eye enhanced the positive vorticity along the low-level eye wall. The positive vorticity was then transported to the upper troposphere by convection, leading to an extension and growth of the eye into the upper troposphere. To examine the impact of convective parameterization scheme (CPS) on the simulation, the Grell scheme (GLEX) was also tested. The GLEX predicted a weaker typhoon with a wilder eye that extended not as high up in the upper troposphere as BMEX. The different structures of the eye between the BMEX and GLEX suggest that the mesoscale features of the eye are dependent on the convection. In other words, the vertical and horizontal distribution of convective heating is essential to the development and structure of the eye. Received December 18, 2001; accepted May 7, 2002 Published online: March 20, 2003  相似文献   

An attenuation model for distant earthquakes     

Adrian Chandler  Nelson Lam 《地震工程与结构动力学》2004,33(2):183-210

Large magnitude earthquakes generated at source–site distances exceeding 100km are typified by low‐frequency (long‐period) seismic waves. Such induced ground shaking can be disproportionately destructive due to its high displacement, and possibly high velocity, shaking characteristics. Distant earthquakes represent a potentially significant safety hazard in certain low and moderate seismic regions where seismic activity is governed by major distant sources as opposed to nearby (regional) background sources. Examples are parts of the Indian sub‐continent, Eastern China and Indo‐China. The majority of ground motion attenuation relationships currently available for applications in active seismic regions may not be suitable for handling long‐distance attenuation, since the significance of distant earthquakes is mainly confined to certain low to moderate seismicity regions. Thus, the effects of distant earthquakes are often not accurately represented by conventional empirical models which were typically developed from curve‐fitting earthquake strong‐motion data from active seismic regions. Numerous well‐known existing attenuation relationships are evaluated in this paper, to highlight their limitations in long‐distance applications. In contrast, basic seismological parameters such as the Quality factor (Q‐factor) could provide a far more accurate representation for the distant attenuation behaviour of a region, but such information is seldom used by engineers in any direct manner. The aim of this paper is to develop a set of relationships that provide a convenient link between the seismological Q‐factor (amongst other factors) and response spectrum attenuation. The use of Q as an input parameter to the proposed model enables valuable local seismological information to be incorporated directly into response spectrum predictions. The application of this new modelling approach is demonstrated by examples based on the Chi‐Chi earthquake (Taiwan and South China), Gujarat earthquake (Northwest India), Nisqually earthquake (region surrounding Seattle) and Sumatran‐fault earthquake (recorded in Singapore). Field recordings have been obtained from these events for comparison with the proposed model. The accuracy of the stochastic simulations and the regression analysis have been confirmed by comparisons between the model calculations and the actual field observations. It is emphasized that obtaining representative estimates for Q for input into the model is equally important.Thus, this paper forms part of the long‐term objective of the authors to develop more effective communications across the engineering and seismological disciplines. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Optimization of preparation conditions of sugarcane bagasse activated carbon via microwave-induced KOH activation for stabilized landfill leachate remediation     

Nurshazwani Bt. Azmi  Mohammed J. K. Bashir  Sumathi Sethupathi  Ng Choon Aun  Goh Ching Lam 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2016,75(10):902

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