Assessment of coral bleaching using symbiotic zooxanthellae density and satellite remote sensing data in the Nansha Islands,South China Sea

Coral bleaching,characterized by a significant loss of symbiotic zooxanthellae,is the primary cause of mass coral mortality and reef degradation throughout the world.The characteristics,processes,and resistance of corals to bleaching varies significantly and is dependent on environmental conditions.We documented a mass coral bleaching event in June 2007 at the Meiji and Zhubi Reefs,Nansha Islands (NS),South China Sea using ecological surveys and measurement of coral zooxanthellae density and sea surface temperatures (SST).More than 35 species of corals (between 0-20 m in depth) were bleached.These bleached corals accounted for 15.6% of total corals in the investigated quadrats.The branching corals Pocillopora and Acropora were the most vulnerable species whereas the massive corals Porites and Favia were more tolerant of the high SSTs.Surprisingly,we found no evidence of bleaching in Agariciidae corals suggesting that this family is resistant to thermal stresses.The bleached corals had lost 72%-90% of their symbiotic zooxanthellae.Furthermore,corals that had no visual signs of bleaching had also lost 31%-53% of their zooxanthellae suggesting that most corals were experiencing the early stage of bleaching.The monthly mean SST during June 2007 was 30.8°C,the highest since 1998.Based on measurements of SST and the Hotspots and DHW data (NOAA),we conclude that it the extremely high SSTs triggered this coral bleaching event.Our results suggest that the previously accepted temperature thresholds used to predict coral bleaching based on satellite data are likely to underestimate the extent and intensity of coral bleaching,at least in the NS.     

Twenty-five years of change in scleractinian coral communities of Daya Bay （northern South China Sea） and its response to the 2008 AD extreme cold climate event

Coral reefs worldwide are becoming increasingly and detrimentally impacted upon by a variety of factors including significant climate changes, such as global warming and increased El Nino-Southern Oscillation activity. Generally, the persistence of coral reefs, especially at low-latitudes, is governed, in part, by sea surface temperatures not exceeding the critical limit （-30℃） at which mass mortality can occur. Thus, it is thought that corals living at high-latitudes （i.e., currently cooler sea surface temperatures） will likely respond more favourably to hypothesized future temperature increases than corals living at low-latitudes （i.e., currently warmer sea surface temperatures）. Consequently, high-latitude coral communities may have the potential to act as regions of refugia for many coral species in the face of potential future global warming. The Daya Bay （22°31′--22°50′N）, northern South China Sea, contains several high-latitude non-reefal coral communities and represents one of the most northerly distributions of scleractinian corals within the region. Significantly, Daya Bay has experienced dramatic warming in both air and sea surface temperatures throughout the past 50 years. In this paper, we analyze 25 years of change in the Daya Bay coral communities, based both on historic surveys and our latest 2006--2008 regional ecological surveys. Our results suggest that, contrary to predictions, there have been significant declines in coral cover within the Daya Bay during the past 25 years （i.e., 76.6% coral cover in 1983/1984 to only 15.3% coral cover by 2008）. Such changes also reflect a significant shift in the most abundant coral species, from Acropora pruinosa to Favites abdita. Most of the modern coral communities became established between 15 and 30 years ago, corresponding to a period of increased winter sea surface temperature. However, very few colonies have become established within the last 15 years, despite a more intense period of warming. By taking into account additional factors, we hypothesize that direct anthropogenic impacts, rather than climatic events, have both restricted the development, and drove the decline, of Daya Bay coral communities in the last 15 years. The Daya Bay has also been subjected to occasional extreme cold events during the past 50 years, with the most recent occurring in early 2008 （13 January-13 February）. During the 2008 cold event, the lowest air temperature reaches only 6.6℃, and the mean sea surface temperature for February fall to 〈 14℃, including six continuous days at 12.3℃. Significantly, the sea surface temperatures fall below the hypothesized critical lower temperature threshold （-13℃） that commonly leads to mass mortality in scleractinian coral communities. Surprisingly, our coral community surveys, conducted both before （August 2007） and after （late February 2008） the extreme 2008 cold event, demonstrate that the Daya Bay coral ecosystems are barely impacted upon during the cold period. Those observations suggest that the Daya Bay scleractinian coral communities have developed adaptations to low sea surface temperatures. Overall, our data support the hypothesis that high-latitude coral communities, such as Daya Bay, have the potential to act as areas of refugia for scleractinian corals in the advent of potential future global warming.     

Effects of temperature,hypoxia, ammonia and nitrate on the bleaching among three coral species

Coral bleaching, which is defined as the loss of colour in corals due to the loss of their symbiotic algae (commonly called zooxanthellae) or pigments or both, is occurring globally at increasing rates, and its harm becomes more and more serious during these two decades. The significance of these bleaching events to the health of coral reef ecosystems is extreme, as bleached corals exhibited high mortality, reduced fecundity and productivity and increased susceptibility to diseases. This decreased coral fitness is easily to lead to reef degradation and ultimately to the breakdown of the coral reef ecosystems. Recently, the reasons leading to coral bleaching are thought to be as follows: too high or too low temperature, excess ultraviolet exposure, heavy metal pollution, cyanide poison and seasonal cycle. To date there has been little knowledge of whether mariculture can result in coral bleaching and which substance has the worst effect on corals. And no research was conducted on the effect of hypoxia on corals. To address these questions, effects of tem- perature, hypoxia, ammonia and nitrate on bleaching of three coral species were studied through examination of morphology and the measurement of the number of symbiotic algae of three coral species Acropora nobilis, Palythoa sp. and Alveopora verrilliana. Results showed that increase in temperature and decrease in dissolved oxygen could lead to increasing number of symbiotic algae and more serious bleaching. In addition, the concentration of 0.001 mmol/L ammonia or nitrate could increase significantly the expulsion of the symbiotic algae of the three coral species. Except for Acropora nobilis, the numbers of symbiotic algae of other two corals did not significantly increase with the increasing concentration of ammonia and nitrate. Furthermore, different hosts have different stress susceptibilities on coral bleaching.     

Estimate of carbonate production by scleractinian corals at Luhuitou fringing reef, Sanya, China

Carbonate production by scleractinian corals not only maintains coral reef growth, but also represents an important source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In this paper the carbonate production by scler-actinian corals at Luhuitou fringing reef, Sanya, Hainan Island, China, is investigated with an ecological census-based method. Averaged carbonate production is 1.16 ± 0.55 kg·m-2·a-1 and 3.52 ± 1.32 kg·m-2·a-1 on the reef flat and reef slope, respectively, depending on the composition and distribution of cor...     

Chemiluminescence determination of tetracycline and oxytetracycline in pharmaceutical preparations using Ru (bipy)3 2+-cerium (IV) system

A new chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of tetracycline and oxytetracycline is developed, based on the CL reaction of tetracycline and oxytetracycline with Ru (bipy)₃ ²⁺ and Ce (IV). In sulfuric acid medium, the CL emission is generated upon continuous oxidtion of Ru(bipy)₃ ²⁺ by cerium (IV). The emission intensity is greatly enhanced when tetracycline and oxytetracycline are introduced into the reaction system after acid degradation. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curves are linear over the range of 8.0×10⁻⁸∼4.0×10⁻⁶ mol/L for tetracycline and of 2.0×10⁻⁷∼4.0×10⁻⁵ mol/L for oxytetracycline, with the detection limits are 4.2×10⁻⁸ mol/L for tetracycline and 1.5×10⁻⁷ mol/L for oxytetracycline, respectively. The proposed method was used for the determination of tetracycline and oxytetracycline in pharmaceutical formulations with good results. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province. Biography: HAH He-you (1962), male, Associate profeddor, Ph.D graduate candidate. Present address, Department of Chemistry, Huainan Teacher's College, Huainan.     

Structural dependences of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">η</Emphasis><Superscript>6</Superscript> complexes of 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole with chromium tricarbonyl fragment on third-order optical nonlinearities

Degenerate four-wave mixing measurements, using the 35 ps pulses at 532 nm, have been employed to investigate the third-order nonlinear optical parameters of two chromium tricarbonyl complexes η6-bonded to 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole at either the NH2-substituted aryl ring （1） or the unsubstituted ring （2） and their precursor 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole （AECz）. The second-order hyperpolarizability y of the compounds 1 and 2 were found to be 42.9×10^-31 and 35.9×10^-31 esu, respectively, approximately one order of magnitude greater than AECz. The relation between the molecular structure and second-order hyperpolarizability of the compounds I and 2 was explored in detail based on the three-level model and the density functional theory （DFT） calculation. The theoretical results indicate that the spatial distribution of electron density has the profound role in the third-order nonlinear optical properties.     

黑老虎植株不同部位木脂素和萜类成分分析

黑老虎(Kadsura coccinea)为传统中药材,为深入了解木脂素类和萜类成分在植株不同部位的分布和积累状况,采用广泛靶向代谢组学技术鉴定其叶、茎、根中的代谢物,基于结构配置解析木脂素和萜类的多样性和丰度。结果显示：在黑老虎植株中共鉴定出39个木脂素类化合物,根(32个,特有13个)>茎和叶(同为24个),3个部位含17个相同的木脂素类化合物;同时,鉴定出41个萜类成分,根(39个)>茎和叶(同为36个),3个部位含34个相同的萜类化合物。黑老虎根部木脂素类化合物丰度(114.62×10⁶)远高于叶(23.37×10⁶)和茎(25.96×10⁶),萜类化合物丰度为根(74.16×10⁶)>叶(37.06×10⁶)>茎(17.36×10⁶),根部与叶、茎相同及特有的木脂素和萜类化合物丰度均较高。日本南五味子木脂素G、乙酰表戈米辛R、Kadcoccilactone F等在黑老虎根中高度富集,在叶、茎、根中都鉴定出Kadcoccil...     

Trace determination of zirconium using anodic adsorptive voltammetry at a carbon paste electrode modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes

A carbon paste electrode modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNT） was prepared and the determination of ultra trace amount of zirconium based on the anodic adsorptive voltammetry of the zirconium-calcium-alizarin red S mix-polynuclear complex is described in this paper for the first time. The results showed that the sensitivity and the selectivity of the method are excellent. The second derivative linear scan voltammograms of the complex were recorded by polarographic analyzer from 200 to 1200 mV （vs. SCE） and it was found that the complex can be adsorbed on the surface of the electrode, yielding a peak at about 840 mV, corresponding to the oxidation of ARS in the complex. The peak current increases linearly with Zr （IV） concentration in the range of 6.0×10^-12--6.0×10^-11 mol. L^-1 （accumulation time 120 s）, 6.0×10^-11--2.0×10^-9 mol. L-1 （accumulation time 90 s） and 2.0×10^-9--1.0×10^-7 mol. L^-1 （accumulation time 60 s） and the detection limit （S/N = 3） is 2.0×10^-12 mol. L^-1 （accumulation time 180 s）. The procedure has been successfully applied to the determination of zirconium in the ore samples.     

Temperature dependence of densities of Sb and Bi melts

The densities of Sb and Bi melts were investigated by an improved Archimedean method. The results show that the density of the Sb melt decreases linearly with increasing temperature,but the density of the Bi melt firstly increases and then decreases as the temperature increases. There is a maximum density value of 10.002 g/cm3 at 310 ℃ ,about 39℃ above the melting point. The temperature depend-ence of the Sb melt is well fitted with the expression ρ =6.8590-5.8105×10-4T,and that of the Bi melt is fitted with ρ =10.3312-1.18×10-3T. The results were discussed from a microstructure viewpoint.     

A new type of longitudinally driven GMI effect of FeCo-based alloy

On investigating the longitudinally driven GMI effect of the DC annealed Fe36Co36Nb4Si4.8B19.2 alloy ribbon, the current density was 3.2×10^7 A/m^2, the GMI effect responds sensitively （the sensitivity is as high as 2440.2%/（A-m^-1）） to weak magnetic field after a 600-second annealing. The experimental result shows that the sensitivity is closely related to annealing current density, driven current frequency and eroded thickness. GMI effect, current annealing, sensitivity, magnetic domain structure     

Compression behavior and equation of state of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy

The compression behavior of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is investigated at room temperature in a diamond-anvil cell instrument using insitu high pressure energy dispersive X-ray diffraction with a syn- chrotron radiation source. The equation of state is determined by fitting the experimental data accord- ing to Birch-Murnaghan equation: -ΔV/V0=0.08606P-3.2×10-4P2 5.7×10-6P3. It is found that the structure of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is stable under pressures up to 30.5 GPa.     

Holocene climatic and environmental changes recorded in Baahar Nuur Lake core in the Ordos Plateau, Inner Mongolia of China

A 5.3 m lake core was drilled in Baahar Nuur Lake in the Ordos Plateau, and measurements of meangrain size, organic δ 13C (δ 13Corg), organic carbon content (TOC), C/N, carbonate content, carbonate δ 13C(δ 13Ccar) and δ 18O (δ 18Ocar) were conducted for retrieving the Holocene chronosequence of climaticchanges based on 15 AMS 14C dates. The record documented four major stages of climate change inthe Ordos Plateau: (IV) a cold and dry condition before ～7.65 14C ka BP; (III) a warm and humid stagebetween ～7.65 and ～5.40 ka BP; (II) a generally drier and cooler climate since ～5.40 ka BP with twohumid events occurring from ～4.70 to ～4.60 ka BP and from ～4.20 to ～3.70 ka BP, and (I) a dry climatecharacterized by complete desiccation of the lake after 3.70 ka BP. Stage III can be further divided intothree sub-stages: (IIIa) a warm and humid episode from ～7.65 to ～6.70 ka BP, (IIIb) a warm and relativelydry episode from ～6.70 to ～6.20 ka BP, and (IIIc) the magthermal and maghumid episode of the Holo-cene from ～6.20 to ～5.40 ka BP.     

The impacts of “05.6” extreme flood event on riverine carbon fluxes in Xijiang River

An extreme flood event with a frequency of nearly 200 year occurred in June of 2005 in the Xijiang River, the main trunk stream of the Zhujlang River. Samples were systematically collected during the flood event, and water quality parameters, including total suspended sediment （TSS）, dissolved inorganic carbon （DIC）, dissolved organic carbon （DOC）, and particulate organic carbon （POC） were analyzed, and riverine carbon concentrations associated with its changing pattern through the flood process were discussed. These parameters reflect the changes in basin surface flow and subsurface flow during the flood. This flood event influenced annual flux estimations of POC, DOC, and DIC to great extents. Based on carbon flux estimations for the year 2005 and the flood event （June 21-28） in the Xijiang River, it was found that DIC, DOC, and POC fluxes during ＇05.6＇ flood event are 1.52×10^6g.km^-2.a^-1, 0.24×10^6 g.km^-2.a^-1, and 0.54×10^6 g.km^-2.a^-1, and account for 14.87%, 24.75% and 44.89% of the annual fluxes in 2005, respectively. The results suggested that carbon exports during extreme flood events had great contributions to the total carbon fluxes and composition of various carbon components, being important for accurate estimates of annual carbon fluxes in rivers with frequent floods.     

The minimization of non-equilibrium plasma source at high pressure

The density of plasma produced by atmospheric non-equilibrium plasma source is the function of energy dissipation rate in ionization electric field and gas particles momentum. The experiment shows that the plasma density highly rises with the increasing of energy dissipation rate and gas particles momentum. When the energy dissipation rate of activation field is 2.18 Wh/m^3 and the average gas particles momentum is 109×10^-22 g· m/s, the air throughput of plasma source whose volume is only 2.5 cm^3 can be up to 12 m^3/h and the density of plasma can be up to 10^10 cm^-3. The research can develop a method of producing minitype plasma source which is low energy consumption but high ion concentration used for chemical industry, environmental engineering and military.     

Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals

Mass coral bleaching events caused by elevated seawater temperatures have resulted in extensive coral mortality throughout the tropics over the past few decades. With continued global warming, bleaching events are predicted to increase in frequency and severity, causing up to 60% coral mortality globally within the next few decades. Although some corals are able to recover and to survive bleaching, the mechanisms underlying such resilience are poorly understood. Here we show that the coral host has a significant role in recovery and resilience. Bleached and recovering Montipora capitata (branching) corals met more than 100% of their daily metabolic energy requirements by markedly increasing their feeding rates and CHAR (per cent contribution of heterotrophically acquired carbon to daily animal respiration), whereas Porites compressa (branching) and Porites lobata (mounding) corals did not. These findings suggest that coral species with high-CHAR capability during bleaching and recovery, irrespective of morphology, will be more resilient to bleaching events over the long term, could become the dominant coral species on reefs, and may help to safeguard affected reefs from potential local and global extinction.     

Effect of Dy3+on osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of mouse primary bone marrow stromal cells and adipocytic trans-differentiation of mouse primary osteoblasts

A series of experimental methods including 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity measurement, mineralized function, Oil Red O stain and measurement were employed to assess the effect of Dy³⁺ on the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of mouse primary bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and the adipogenic trans-differentiation of mouse primary osteoblasts (OBs). The results showed that Dy³⁺ had no effect on BMSC proliferation at concentrations of 1×10⁻⁸ and 1×10⁻⁵ mol/L, but inhibited BMSC proliferation at other concentrations. Dy³⁺ had no effect on OB proliferation at concentrations of 1×10⁻¹⁰ and 1×10⁻⁹ mol/L, but inhibited OB proliferation at other concentrations. Dy³⁺ had no effect on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs at concentrations of 1×10⁻⁹ and 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L, and promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs at other concentrations at the 7th day. The osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs was inhibited by Dy³⁺ at concentration of 1×10⁻⁵ mol/L at the 14th day, but promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs at concentrations of 1×10⁻⁹, 1×10⁻⁸, 1×10⁻⁷ and 1×10⁻⁶ mol/L with the maximal effect at concentration of 10⁻⁶ mol/L. Dy³⁺ promoted mineralized function of BMSCs at any concentration. Dy³⁺ had no effect on adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs at concentration of 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L, but inhibited adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs at other concentrations. Dy³⁺ inhibited adipocytic trans-differentiation of OBs at any concentration, suggesting that Dy³⁺ had protective effect on bone and the protective effect on bone may be mediated by modulating differentiation of BMSCs away from the adipocyte and inhibiting adipocytic trans-differentiation of OBs which may promote differentiation and mineralization of OBs. These results may be valuable for better understanding the mechanism of the effect of Dy³⁺ on pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Supported by the Foundation for Key Program of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 208018)     

Styrene polymerization catalyzed by nickel complexes bearing hydroxyindanone-iminate ligands

Activated by methylaluminoxane, mononuclear bis（hydroxyindanone-iminate）nickel complexes Ni[ArN=CC2H3（CH3）C6H2（R）O]2 （Ar = 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3, R=Me（1）, R=CI（2）, and R=H（3）） showed good activity for the styrene polymerization. The effect of many reaction parameters including the AI/Ni ratio, temperature, and reaction time on catalytic activities of catalytic systems and the molecular weights of the obrained polystyrene was ascertained. The highest activity of 1.34×10^5g（PS）·mol^-1（Ni）·h^-1 was obtained under the optimum reaction condition. The ^13C NMR spectra of the polymers revealed that the polymer was isotactic-rich atactic polystyrene. And the coordination mechanism was confirmed by the analyses of the polymer chain end-groups.     

Study on peptide-peptide interaction using high-performance affinity chromatography and quartz crystal microbalance biosensor

The specific interaction between sense and antisense peptides was studied by high-performance affinity chromatography （HPAC） and quartz crystal microbalance （QCM） biosensor. Fragment 1-14 of human interferon-β （hlFN-βwas chosen as sense peptide and its three antisense peptides （AS-IFN 1, AS-IFN 2, and AS-IFN 3） were designed according to the degeneracy of genetic codes. The affinity column was prepared with sense peptide as ligand and the affinity chromatographic behavior was evaluated. Glu-substituted antisense peptide （AS-IFN 3） showed the strongest binding to immobilized sense peptide at pH 7.5. A quartz crystal microbalance-flow injection analysis （QCM-FIA） system was introduced to investigate the recognition process in real-time. The equilibrium dissociation constants between sense peptide and AS-IFN 1, AS-IFN 2 and AS-IFN 3 measured 2.08×10^-4, 1.31×10^-4 and 2.22×10^-5 mol/L, respectively. The mechanism study indicated that the specific recognition between sense peptide and AS-IFN 3 was due to sequence-dependent and multi-modal affinity interaction.     

Rate constants for the reaction of ozone with <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butyl, <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-butyl and <Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>-butyl methyl sulfides

The rate constants for the ozone reactions with n-butyl methyl sulfide （n-BMS, CHaCH2CH2CH2SCH3）, sec-butyl methyl sulfide （s-BMS, CH3CH2（CH3）CHSCHa） and tert-butyl methyl sulfide （t-BMS, （CH3）3CSCH3） were measured using our smog chamber under supposedly pseudo-first-order conditions at 30002 K and 760 Torr. The experimental determined rate constants for n-butyl, s-butyl and t-butyl methyl sulfide are （1.23 ± 0.06）×10-19, （5.08 ± 0.19）×10-20 and （2.26 ± 0.14）×10-20 cm3 molecule-1· s-1, respectively. The reactivity-structure relationship of the reactions was discussed and used to illustrate the mechanism of the ozone reaction with thioethers. The results enrich the kinetics data of atmospheric chemistry.     

Spatial variability of cyanobacterial community composition in Sanya Bay as determined by DGGE fingerprinting and multivariate analysis

The cyanobacterial communities in the surface and bottom waters of Sanya Bay were investigated on April 24 and 25,2010.Flow cytometry showed that the total cyanobacterial abundance in the surface and bottom layers ranged from 0.7×10 4 to 2.38×10 4 cells mL-1 and from 1×10 4 to 1.8×10 4 cells mL-1,respectively.Cyanobacterial diversity was analyzed using a molecular fingerprinting technique called denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE),followed by DNA sequencing.The results were then interpreted through multivariate statistical analysis.Differences in the compositions of cyanobacterial communities were observed in the surface and bottom waters at the same station,with some bands obtained from both the surface and bottom layers,whereas some bands were present only in one layer.The predominant cyanobacterial species of the excised DGGE bands were related to Synechococcus or Synechococcus-like species(56.2%).Other phylogenetic groups identified included Chroococcidiopsis(6.3%),Cyanobium(6.3%) and some unclassified cyanobacteria(31.2%).A redundancy analysis(RDA) was conducted to reveal the relationships between the cyanobacterial community composition and environmental factors.Analysis results showed that the spatial variations in the cyanobacterial community composition in surface waters was significantly related to chlorophyll a(Chla),the biochemical oxygen demand(BOD),nitrate and phosphate(P<0.05).Meanwhile,the spatial variations in the bottom waters was significantly affected by nitrate,nitrite,and phosphate(P<0.05).Environmental parameters could explain 99.3% and 58.3% of the variations in the surface and bottom layers,respectively.