Field and experimental studies on the combined impacts of cyanobacterial blooms and small algae on crustacean zooplankton in a large, eutrophic, subtropical, Chinese lake

Field and experimental studies were conducted to evaluate the combined impacts of cyanobacterial blooms and small algae on seasonal and long-term changes in the abundance and community structure of crustacean zooplankton in a large, eutrophic, Chinese lake, Lake Chaohu. Seasonal changes of the crustacean zooplankton from 22 sampling stations were investigated during September 2002 and August 2003, and 23 species belonging to 20 genera were recorded. Daphnia spp. dominated in spring but disappeared in mid-summer, while Bosmina coregoni and Ceriodaphnia cornuta dominated in summer and autumn. Both maximum cladoceran density (310 ind. l(-1)) and biomass (5.2 mg l(-1)) appeared in autumn. Limnoithona sinensis, Sinocalanus dorrii and Schmackeria inopinus were the main species of copepods. Microcystis spp. were the dominant phytoplankton species and formed dense blooms in the warm seasons. In the laboratory, inhibitory effects of small colonial Microcystis on growth and reproduction of Daphnia carinata were more remarkable than those of large ones, and population size of D. carinata was negatively correlated with density of fresh large colonial Microcystis within a density range of 0-100 mg l(-1) (r = -0.82, P < 0.05). Both field and experimental results suggested that seasonal and long-term changes in the community structure of crustacean zooplankton in the lake were shaped by cyanobacterial blooms and biomass of the small algae, respectively, i.e., colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria contributed to the summer replacement of dominant crustacean zooplankton from large Daphnia spp. to small B. coregoni and C. cornuta, while increased small algae might be responsible for the increased abundance of crustacean zooplankton during the past decades.

Biochemical and ultrastructural changes of the liver and kidney of the phytoplanktivorous silver carp feeding naturally on toxic Microcystis blooms in Taihu Lake, China

Many experimental studies have documented the impact of microcystins (MC) on fish based on either intraperitoneal injection, or oral gavaging via the diet, but few experiments were conducted by MC exposure through natural food uptake in lakes. In this study, the phytoplanktivorous silver carp were stocked in a large pen set in Meiliang Bay of Taihu Lake where toxic Microcystis blooms occurred in the warm seasons. Fish samples were collected monthly and MC concentrations in liver and kidney of the fish were determined by LC-MS. The maximum MC concentrations in liver and kidney were present in July when damages in ultrastructures of the liver and kidney were revealed by electron microscope. In comparison with previous studies on common carp, silver carp showed less damage and presence of lysosome proliferation in liver and kidney. Silver carp might eliminate or lessen cell damage caused by MC through lysosome activation. Recovery in the ultrastructures of liver and kidney after Microcystis blooms was companied with a significant decrease or even disappearance of MC. Catalase and glutathione S-transferase in liver and kidney of silver carp during Microcystis blooms were significantly higher than before and after Microcystis blooms. The high glutathione pool in liver and kidney of silver carp suggests their high resistance to MC exposure. The efficient antioxidant defence may be an important mechanism of phytoplanktivorous fish like silver carp to counteract toxic Microcystis blooms. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of nonylphenol on the growth and microcystin production of Microcystis strains

Both organic pollution and eutrophication are prominent environmental issues concerning water pollution in the world. It is important to reveal the effects of organic pollutants on algal growth and toxin production for assessing ecological risk of organic pollution. Since nonylphenol (NP) is a kind of persistent organic pollutant with endocrine disruptive effect which exists ubiquitously in environments, NP was selected as test compound in our study to study the relationship between NP stress and Microcystis growth and microcystin production. Our study showed that responses of toxic and nontoxic Microcystis aeruginosa to NP stress were obviously different. The growth inhibition test with NP on M. aeruginosa yielded effect concentrations EbC50 values within this range of 0.67-2.96 mg/L. The nontoxic M. aeruginosa strains were more resistant to NP than toxic strains at concentration above 1 mg/L. Cell growth was enhanced by 0.02-0.2 mg/L NP for both toxic and nontoxic strains, suggesting a hormesis effect of NP on M. aeruginosa. Both toxic and nontoxic strains tended to be smaller with increasing NP. But with the increased duration of the experiment, both the cell size and the growth rate began to resume, suggesting a quick adaptation of M. aeruginosa to adverse stress. NP of 0.05-0.5 mg/L significantly promoted microcystin production of toxic strain PCC7820, suggesting that NP might affect microcystin production of some toxic M. aeruginosa in the field. Our study showed that microcystin excretion was species specific that up to 75% of microcystins in PCC7820 were released into solution, whereas > 99% of microcystins in 562 remained in algal cells after 12 days' incubation. NP also significantly influenced microcystin release into cultural media. The fact that NP enhanced growth and toxin production of M. aeruginosa at low concentrations of 0.02-0.5 mg/L that might be possibly found in natural freshwaters implies that low concentration of NP may favor survival of M. aeruginosa in the field and may play a subtle role in affecting cyanobacterial blooms and microcystin production in natural waters. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective control of toxic Microcystis water blooms using lysine and malonic acid: An enclosure experiment

Three enclosures (10 x 10 x 1.5-1.3 m in depth) were set beside Dianch Lake, Kunming, People's Republic of China, for the period from July 28 to August 26, 2002. The enclosures were filled with cyanobacterial (Microcystis aeruginosa) water bloom-containing lake water. Lake sediment that contained macrophytes and water chestnut seeds was spread over the entire bottom of each enclosure. Initially, 10 g/m(2) of lysine was sprayed in Enclosure B, and 10 g/m(2) each of lysine and malonic acid were sprayed together in Enclosure C. Enclosure A remained untreated and was used as a control. The concentrations of lysine, malonic acid, chlorophyll a, and microcystin as well as the cell numbers of phytoplankton such as cyanobacteria, diatom, and euglena were monitored. On day 1 of the treatment, formation of cyanobacterial blooms almost ceased in Enclosures B and C, although Microcystis cells in the control still formed blooms. On day 7 Microcystis cells in Enclosure B that had been treated with lysine started growing again, whereas growth was not observed in Microcystis cells in Enclosure C, which had been treated with lysine and malonic acid. On day 28 the surface of Enclosure B was covered with water chestnut (Trapa spp.) and the Microcystis blooms again increased. In contrast, growth of macrophytes (Myriophllum spicatum and Potamogeton crispus) was observed in Enclosure C; however, no cyanobacterial blooms were observed. Lysine and malonic acid had completely decomposed. The microcystin concentration on day 28 decreased to 25% of the initial value, and the pH shifted from the initial value of 9.2 to 7.8. We concluded that combined treatment with lysine and malonic acid selectively controlled toxic Microcystis water blooms and induced the growth of macrophytes. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inhibition of the predatory activity of the copepod Mesocyclops notius by Microcystis spp.

The feeding rate of the copepod Mesocyclops notius on two species of cladocerans (Daphnia carinata and Ceriodaphnia cornuta) decreased with increasing environmental concentration of 64-122 mum colonial Microcystis spp. Rate of copepod feeding on Moina micrura was unaffected by the presence of Microcystis spp. Mesocyclops notius rarely preyed on Diaphanosoma brachyurum.

Between Colonial Violence and Socialist Worldview: The Conversions of Ernst Daumig

In 1900, Ernst Däumig (1866–1922) wrote to Karl Kautsky of his ‘bitter experiences’ of violence in the French Foreign Legion and then in the Prussian military that had led to his recent ‘conversion’ to the socialist worldview. This article takes up Däumig's letters, articles and travelogues, and a drama, to explore how he recast his experiences of colonial and military violence twice, first as a writer for a German soldiers’ journal and then as an aspiring socialist journalist. As well as a burden that pushed him to critique his past, Däumig's military and colonial experiences are shown to have been his starting capital in the world of journalism and politics. The article gives particular attention to the process of conversion, through which Däumig forged a new life narrative out of the moral tales offered by the adopted worldview and the events of his own past. In addition to providing a case study of worldview conversion, this article demonstrates how biographical research can challenge assumptions about the impact of colonial violence on German metropolitan culture. At the same time, this biographical analysis sheds light on the early career of one of the key figures in the German Revolution of 1918 to 1921. As co-chairman of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), Däumig led the USPD into union with the Communist Party in 1920.

Ancient History as a Means of Transforming Colonial India in the Late-Eighteenth and Early-Nineteenth Centuries

This article focuses on the studies and discourses of mostly British scholars of the early colonial period belonging to two schools of thought. It shows how the studies of both schools – European orientalism and utilitarianism – were intricately connected to the political development of the emerging British paramountcy over the South Asian sub-continent, as both were looking for means of establishing and/or strengthening colonial rule. Nevertheless, the debate was not just a continuation of discussions in Europe. Whereas the ideas of the European Enlightenment had some influence, the transformation of the Mughal Empire and especially the idea of a decline of Muslim rule offered ample opportunities for understanding the early history of India either as some sort of “Golden Age,” as the orientalists and their indigenous supporters did, or as something static and degenerate, as the utilitarians did, and from which the population of sub-continent had to be saved by colonial rule and colonial values. Fearing the spread of the ideas of the French Revolution, the first group of British scholars sought to persuade the native elites of South Asia to take the lessons of their past for the future development of their homeland. Just as the classicists back in Europe, these scholars were convinced that large-scale explanations of the past could also teach political and moral lessons for the present although it was important to deal with the distant past in an empirical manner. The utilitarians on the other hand believed that India had to be saved from its own depravity through the English language and Western values, which amounted to nothing less than the modern transformation of the true Classical Age.

Shakespeare and the Colonial Encounter in India in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-03

Malay Kingship in Kedah : Religion, Trade, and Society

The book probes and examines traditional sources of royal power and control, as well as indigenous socio-political systems in the Malay world. It is focused on the north-western Malaysian Sultanate of Kedah which is acknowledged as the oldest unbroken independent kingship line in the ‘Malay and Islamic world’ with 1,000 years of history. Little scholarly attention has been paid to its pre-modern history, society, religion, system of government and unique geographic situation, potentially controlling both land and sea lines of communication into the remainder of Southeast Asia. It will thus provide the first comprehensive treatment in English, or other languages, on Kedah’s pre-modern and nineteenth century historiography and can provide a foundation for comparative studies of the various Malay states which is presently lacking. The proposed book also sheds much needed light on a range of important topics in Malay history including: Kedah and the northern Melaka Straits history, colonial expansion and rivalry, Southeast Asian history and politics, interregional migration and the influence of the sea peoples or orang laut, traditional Malay socio-political and economic life, Islamic influences and the course of Thai-Malay relations. The book attempts to offer a new understanding, not only of Kedah, but of the political and cultural development of the entire Malay world and of its relationships with the broader forces in both its continental and maritime settings. It argues that Kedah does not seem to follow, and in fact, often seems to contradict what has been commonly been accepted as the “typical model” of the traditional Malay state. Thus it concludes that the ruling dynasty has historically exploited a wide range of unique environmental conditions, local traditions, global spiritual trends and economic forces to preserve and strengthen its political position. The scope and theme of book The Kedah Sultanate is the oldest unbroken independent kingship lines in the “Malay world” with 1,000 years of history, and arguably one of the oldest in the Islamic world. In this study I examine key geopolitical and spiritual attributes of Malay kingship that have traditionally cemented the ruler, the peoples, and the environment. Brief description of the primary audience for the book: There is little written in English or Malay on Kedah’s pre twentieth century history. The available sources only look at certain aspects of Kedah’s history, are outdated or are confined to a specific period often outside the scope of the book. It is therefore anticipated that the readership and market for the book includes: • Scholars of Southeast Asian history, Islam, kingship, trade. • Academics & Historians (including: Asian, Thai history, Islamic, Maritime, Persian, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Colonial) • Libraries • Students, particularly those in Malaysia (especially the states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang), Thailand and Singapore. • Universities • Scholars and students in Political Science & International Relations

Community, Power, and Colonialism: The U.S. Army in Southern Arizona and New Mexico, 1866-1886

Empire is central to U.S. history. When we see the U.S. projecting its influence on a global scale in today s world it is important to understand that U.S. empire has a long history. This dissertation offers a case study of colonialism and U.S. empire by discussing the social worlds, labor regimes, and culture of the U.S. Army during the conquest of southern Arizona and New Mexico (1866-1886). It highlights some of the defining principles, mentalities, and characteristics of U.S. imperialism and shows how U.S. forces have in years past constructed their power and represented themselves, their missions, and the places and peoples that faced U.S. imperialism/colonialism. Using insights from postcolonial studies and whiteness studies, this work balances its attention between discursive representations (army stories) and social experience (army actions), pays attention to silences in the process of historical production, and focuses on collective group mentalities and identities. In the end the army experience reveals an empire in denial constructed on the rule of difference and marked by frustration. White officers, their wives, and the white enlisted men not only wanted the monopoly of violence for the U.S. regime but also colonial (mental/cultural) authority and power, and constructed their identity, authority, and power in discourse and in the social contexts of the everyday through difference. Engaged in warfare against the Apaches, they did not recognize their actions as harmful or acknowledge the U.S. invasion as the bloody colonial conquest it was. White army personnel painted themselves and the army as liberators, represented colonial peoples as racial inferiors, approached colonial terrain in terms of struggle, and claimed that the region was a terrible periphery with little value before the arrival of white civilization. Officers and wives also wanted to place themselves at the top of colonial hierarchies as the refined and respectable class who led the regeneration of the colony by example: they tried to turn army villages into islands of civilization and made journeys, leisure, and domestic life to showcase their class sensibilities and level of sophistication. Often, however, their efforts failed, resulting in frustration and bitterness. Many blamed the colony and its peoples for their failures. The army itself was divided by race and class. All soldiers were treated as laborers unfit for self-government. White enlisted men, frustrated by their failures in colonial warfare and by constant manual labor, constructed worlds of resistance, whereas indigenous soldiers sought to negotiate the effects of colonialism by working in the army. As colonized labor their position was defined by tension between integration and exclusion and between freedom and colonial control.

'The ones with the beastly lives': Gender and textuality in Jean Rhys's Voyage in the Dark

Anna Morgan, the central character of Jean Rhys's Voyage in the Dark, has previously been read as a victim of her own inability to fashion some form of life for herself.1 It is possible, however, to suggest an alternative to such character-based readings and instead examine the systems of oppression which work to ensure that Anna remains an excluded, marginalized subject. Rather than personal failings, it is Anna's gender and colonial status which prevent her from participating fully in the dominant social and economic order of Voyage in the Dark. Anna is textually constrained on three levels, which may be defined as economic, colonialist, and narrative. Imbricated within these is the question of gender, which functions to place Anna in a position of double-exclusion within the text. These forms of exclusion function at the levels of discourse and narrative; I would argue that Anna's position is not, therefore, a product of realist character 'flaws' but rather that her discursive placement within the novel offers insight into the ways in which colonialism and sexism function in terms of textuality.

Tsoi Yuen Resistance and Post-80s Generation: A new wave of domestic social movement

Hong Kong was once a British colony and has been under the sovereignty of People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1997. However, some of the unjust practices and colonial legacies are infiltrated into the development ideology as well as the social structures. The construction of intercity express railway project announced in 2008 causing the demolishment of Tsoi Yuen Tsuen, a “non-indigenous” agricultural village in Hong Kong, was one of the current examples. Tsoi Yuen village was established under the former colonial sovereignty sixty years ago. Approximately 450 populations were affected that they had to relocate their homeland involuntarily. However, these villagers were very attached to their homelands and were unwilling to move, and meanwhile they found that they were absent in the government’s consultation and decision-making process. Soon they began their resistance and demanded for “No Move! No Demolish!”. Their movement was strongly supported by a group of “Post-80s generation” and turned into the most important social movement of the city in recent years. In fact, demolition of Tsoi Yuen Village for city development is not an isolated case in the city. Meanwhile the situation is getting worse in Mainland China. I chose the case study of Tsoi Yuen Resistance from 2008 to 2011 for revelation of the complicated colonial history and postcolonial era of Hong Kong. I focused on discussing the Tsoi Yuen Resistance and the Post-80s movement, and how they have exposed the tension between top-down urban planning and development and public movements fighting for a more democratic process in choosing their way of living. Through the study of a village movement which as well as the rationale behind the Post-80s’ support, I hoped to illustrate how this movement has awaken a different sense of living for the new generations in the midst of the high-sounding urban development. It is an opportunity to examine Hong Kong’s colonial epoch in a different perspective: through studying the Tsoi Yuen Village, let them (subalterns) speak for themselves. Furthermore, the significance of this resistance, taking place eleven years after the handover to the PRC, is an important fact that I shall not miss in later discussion. Last but not least, during the resistance, advanced technology and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, iPhone were used by Post 80s generation to spread the latest information in order to attract public’s concern and participation. Therefore, apart from studying Tsoi Yuen Resistance as a local social movement, I also regard it as a part of the global movement in perusing ecological lifestyle and civil society. How Post 80s’ generation manipulates the global idea in a local context will also be examined.

A Shared European History? Perceptions of Imperialism and Islam in Matriculation Examination Essays and History Textbooks

The European Union (EU) is faced with a continuous decrease in public support. There is a tension between the growing Euroscepticism and the concurrent academic discourse of a shared European identity. Informed and inspired by the current debates, this Master’s Thesis investigates the potential of a shared past to create shared identity. It also addresses the logic of cultural exclusion that is often connected to collective cultural identities. The source material is a combination of exam essays, written as answers to the history tests in the Finnish matriculation examinations of 2005-2008, and upper secondary school history textbooks. From the sources, current perceptions of Islam (as Europe’s Other) and the age of imperialism (as a debated period from Europe’s past) among the youth are studied. Through the analysis the thesis aims to indicate the level of consensus within the pupils’ identification with the past and with Europe. This objective is pursued through examining the pupils’ perceptions of Europe’s past and its relationship to non-European cultures and countries as they are manifested in the essays, and reflecting upon the level of influence that history textbooks as representatives of national hegemonic historical narratives might have on the contents, framings and emphases with and through which the pupils approach, imagine, and reproduce Europe’s past. The approach is based on previous research on the presence of history and the field of textbook research. The theoretical categories with which the sources are analyzed are derived primarily from literature on identity, European integration, history and memory, postcolonial criticism, and theorizations of European identity. Results of the research project suggest that the rhetoric of European superiority, despite its apparent demise, still resonates in contemporary understandings of Europeanness. Dominant perceptions of imperialism comprise of European agency and colonial submission, dominant perceptions of the Islamic world of fundamental difference. Identification with European history among the Finnish youth is rather shallow when examined through perceptions of imperialism; the Islamic world is perceived as Other and its representations are dominated by recent and contemporary international relations.

History of the Fisheries of Raritan Bay, New York and New Jersey

Raritan Bay is the body of water bounded by New York and New Jersey and lying immediately south of New York City (Fig. 1). It has close proximity to the most concentrated urban and industrial area in the United States. Its history has been one of extensive multiple use by the surrounding human population. Dating from the precolonial and colonial periods, people have employed many types of gear to catch and gather its once abundant fishes and shellfishes. Its beaches were once popular for sun bathing and swimming, but after the 1940's they were essentially abandoned because the water became too polluted. Another large use has been for pleasure boating and the transit and dockage of merchant, passenger, and military vessels. Channels and basins were dug in the bay, bulkheads and jetties were constructed along its shores, and it was a donor source of sand and gravel for construction projects. It has also been a receptor for large quantities of domestic and industrial wastes and, mainly for this reason, it is one ofthe most deteriorated estuaries in the United States.

Dynamics of microcystins-LR and -RR in the phytoplanktivorous silver carp in a sub-chronic toxicity experiment

A sub-chronic toxicity experiment was conducted to examine tissue distribution and depuration of two microcystins (microcystin-LR and microcystin -RR) in the phytoplanktivorous filter-feeding silver carp during a course of 80 days. Two large tanks (A, B) were used, and in Tank A, the fish were fed naturally with fresh Microcystis viridis cells (collected from a eutrophic pond) throughout the experiment, while in Tank B, the food of the fish were M. viridis cells for the first 40 days and then changed to artificial carp feed. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure MC-LR and MC-RR in the M. viridis cells, the seston, and the intestine, blood, liver and muscle tissue of silver carp at an interval of 20 days. MC-RR and MC-LR in the collected Microcystis cells varied between 268-580 and 110-292 mug g(-1) DW, respectively. In Tank A, MC-RR and MC-LR varied between 41.5-99.5 and 6.9-15.8 mug g(-1) DW in the seston, respectively. The maximum MC-RR in the blood, liver and muscle of the fish was 49.7, 17.8 and 1.77 mug g(-1) DW, respectively. No MC-LR was detectable in the muscle and blood samples of the silver carp in spite of the abundant presence of this toxin in the intestines (for the liver, there was only one case when a relatively minor quantity was detected). These findings contrast with previous experimental results on rainbow trout. Perhaps silver carp has a mechanism to degrade MC-LR actively and to inhibit MC-LR transportation across the intestines. The depuration of MC-RR concentrations occurred slowly than uptakes in blood, liver and muscle, and the depuration rate was in the order of blood > liver > muscle. The grazing ability of silver carp on toxic cyanobacteria suggests an applicability of using phytoplanktivorous fish to counteract cyanotoxin contamination in eutrophic waters. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.