Effects of body size and water temperature on food consumption and growth in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) with special reference to aestivation

To investigate the effects of body size and water temperature on feeding and growth in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka), the maximum rate of food consumption in terms of energy (C-maxe; J day(-1)) and the specific growth rate in terms of energy (SGRe; % day(-1)) in animals of three body sizes (mean +/- SE) - large (134.0 +/- 3.5 g), medium (73.6 +/- 2.2 g) and small (36.5 +/- 1.2 g) - were determined at water temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees C. Maximum rate of food consumption in terms of energy increased and SGRe decreased with increasing body weight at 10, 15 and 20 degrees C. This trend, however, was not apparent at 25 and 30 degrees C, which could be influenced by aestivation. High water temperatures (above 20 degrees C) were disadvantageous to feeding and growth of this animal; SGRe of A. japonicus during aestivation was negative. The optimum temperatures for food consumption and for growth were similar and were between 14 and 15 degrees C, and body size seemed to have a slight effect on the optimal temperature for food consumption or growth. Because aestivation of A. japonicus was temperature dependent, the present paper also documented the threshold temperatures to aestivation as indicated by feeding cessation. Deduced from daily food consumption of individuals, the threshold temperature to aestivation for large and medium animals (73.3-139.3 g) was 24.5-25.5 degrees C, while that for small animals (28.9-40.7 g) was between 25.5 and 30.5 degrees C. These values are higher than previous reports; differences in sign of aestivation, experimental condition and dwelling district of test animals could be the reasons.

Seasonal variation of reproduction rates and body size of Calanus sinicus in the Southern Yellow Sea, China

Annual variations of egg production rate (EPR) and clutch size of Calanus sinicus, as well as body size of females (prosome length and dry weight), were investigated at a series of stations in the Southern Yellow Sea by onboard incubation. Calanus sinicus was spawning in all the 11 cruises investigated, and the annual variation of EPR was bimodal. Monthly average EPR was highest from May to July, respectively, 5.97, 5.36 and 6.30 eggs female(-1) d(-1), then decreased dramatically to only 1.37 eggs female(-1) d(-1) in August and attained the lowest 1.07 eggs female(-1) d(-1) in October. In November, average EPR increased again to 4.31 eggs female(-1) d(-1). Seasonal variation of clutch size was similar to EPR, except that it decreased gradually after August rather than dramatically as did EPR. Prosome length of females was maximum in May and minimum in October, but dry weight was highest in November. Monthly average EPR correlated better with prosome length than dry weight, while clutch size was rather determined by dry weight of females. It is suggested that egg production of C. sinicus was active during two discontinuous periods when both surface and bottom temperature fell into its favorite range (i.e. 10-23degreesC), and different reproductive strategies were adopted in these two reproductive peaks: other than the highest EPR, longer prosome length was also achieved by C. sinicus from May to July, while females in November developed shorter bodies but accumulated more energy for reproduction.

Metabolism of polychaete Neanthes japonica Izuka: relations to temperature, salinity and body weight

Polychaete Neanthes japonica is a species geographically specific in China and Japan with important scientific implication and commercial value. In this study, the relations of body weight, salinity and temperature to oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of N. japonica were determined. Three different groups in body weight (large: 2.34 +/- 0.36 g, middle: 1.50 +/- 0.21 g and small: 0.62 +/- 0.12 g) were set for all experiments. Results show that the body weight is negatively related to the rates of oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion; and the relationship is significant. The oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion at 24A degrees C decreased at salinity from 5 to 30 and increased above 30, indicating that both lower and higher salinity are adverse and certain degree of salinity stress is necessary for enhancing the energy demand. At salinity 30, rising temperature from 18A degrees C to 30A degrees C, the oxygen consumption increased before 27A degrees C and then decreased. However, the relation of ammonia excretion and temperature seems more complex. Two-way ANOVA shows that salinity, temperature and body weight all have a significant effect on the oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of the worm. Moreover, interaction between salinity/temperature and body weight is also significant. O:N (oxygen/nitrogen) ratio varies greatly in this case from 5.97 to 463.22, indicating that N. japonica can regulate the type of metabolic substrate against environment changes.

C, N and P regeneration by a detritivorous fish, Liza haematocheila T. & S.: effects of temperature, diet and body size

Detritus, as a nutrients reservoir, affects the trophic structure and dynamics of communities and supports a greater diversity of species and longer food chains. Detritivorous fish is an important organism to regenerate the nutrients from sediments. Despite the numerous studies on the nutrients cycle in fish, only a few attempts have been made to quantify the regenerating ability. In the present study, we chose the common detritivorous fish redeye mullet as the research object. Redeye mullet is also a common poly-culture fish in China. Diet, including a commercial diet mostly used in aquaculture and a home-made diet with contents close to detritus, was used and considered as a fixed factor. Temperature was also considered as a fixed factor as much research has shown that temperature has significant effects on fish metabolism. Moreover, body size was regarded as a covariate under analysis of covariance. Three key nutrients, namely carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, were used to measure the nutrient-regenerating ability of redeye mullet under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the nutrient regeneration in percent of the consumption decreased with increasing temperature. Carbon and nitrogen regeneration of redeye mullet fed on commercial diet was lower than those of the home-made diet group, while the opposite was found for phosphorus. In each group, the amount of regenerated nutrients increased linearly with body size. Fed on the home-made diet, 5-g fish at 25 degrees C can regenerate 210.822 mg C, 37.533 mg N and 0.727 mg P per day.

Effects of diet and body size on phosphorus utilization of Liza haematocheila T. & S.

A 21-d laboratory experiment was conducted to study, the phosphorus (P) utilization of two different diets by redlip mullet Liza haematocheila T. & S. Sand-filtered water in salinity 30 and temperature 25 degrees C was used. Twenty-nine fish individuals were divided into three groups: 11 to group 1 (G1) fed on diet 1, 11 to group 2 (G2) fed on diet 2, and 7 to contrast group. Diet 1 was a commercial feed, more valuable in nutrition than diet 2 that similar to natural detritus. The results show the intake phosphorus (IP) of G1 was significantly higher than that of G2, and both increased linearly with body size at a certain amount of diet. The retention phosphorus (RP) in fish of G1 was lower than G2. The relationship between retention phosphorus and body size was positive and stronger in G2. Significant difference in faecal phosphorus (FP) was found between G1 and G2. Body size significantly impacted the excretion phosphorus (EP) in G1 but G2. The loss of intake phosphor-us in G1 was 10.83-20.27 mg per g fish weight gain, higher than that in G2 for 6.63-9.56. Of the phosphor-us, about 10% was allocated into growth, 50% in faeces, and the rest lost in excretion. The main part of phosphorus was lost in faeces but excretion. The phosphorus budget of the fish could be described as 100IP = 7.40RP + 47.39FP + 36.63EP (Diet 1) or 100IP = 11.93RP + 56.64FP + 21.76EP (Diet 2).

Effects of different light sources and illumination methods on growth and body color of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Shrimps Litopenaeus vannamei with initial body weight of 2.108 +/- 0.036 g were sampled for specific growth rates (SGR) and body color measurements for 50 days under different light sources (incandescent lamp, IL; cool-white fluorescent lamp, FL; metal halide lamp, MHL; and control without lamp) and different illumination methods (illumination only in day, IOD, and illumination day and night, IDN). Body color of L. vannamei was measured according to the free astaxanthin concentration (FAC) of shrimp. The SGR, food intake (FI), feed conversion efficiency (FCE) and FAC of shrimps showed significant differences among the experimental treatment groups (P < 0.05). Maximum and minimum SGR occurred under IOD by MHL and IDN by FL, respectively (difference 56.34%). The FI of shrimp for the control group did not rank lowest among treatments, confirming that shrimp primarily use scent, not vision, to search for food. FI and FCE of shrimps were both the lowest among treatment groups under IDN by FL and growth was slow, thus FL is not a preferred light source for shrimp culture. Under IOD by MHL, shrimps had the highest FCE and the third highest FI among treatment groups ensuring rapid growth. FAC of shrimp were about 3.31 +/- 0.20 mg/kg. When under IOD by MHL and IDN by FL, FAC was significantly higher than the other treatments (P < 0.05). To summarize, when illuminated by MHL, L. vannamei had not only vivid body color due to high astaxanthin concentration but also rapid growth. Therefore, MHL is an appropriate indoor light source for shrimp super-intensive culture. SGR of shrimp was in significantly negative correlation to FAC of shrimp (P < 0.05). Thus, when FAC increased, SGR did not always follow, suggesting that the purpose of astaxanthin accumulation was not for growth promotion but for protection against intense light. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chromosome segregation in fertilized eggs from triploid Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), following inhibition of polar body 1

Chromosome segregation in fertilized eggs from triploid Pacific oysters, following inhibition of the first polar body (PB1), was studied with acetic orcein staining techniques. To block the release of PB1, fertilized eggs were treated with 0.5 mg/l of cytochalasin B (CB). Four types of segregation were observed, namely, ''tripolar segregation'' (54.5%), ''united bipolar segregation'' (12%), ''separated bipolar segregation'' (2.5%), and ''incomplete united bipolar segregation'' (4%). The remaining 23% could not be classified because of chromosome disorganization, but appeared to be variants of the above. It seemed clear that the predominant pattern that gave rise to tetraploids was united bipolar segregation, although certain separated bipolar segregations might also lead to the formation of tetraploids. The sequential events of meioses observed in CB-treated eggs are described. The asynchrony of meiotic events and possible mechanisms for the various types of chromosome segregation are discussed.

Photoperiodic regulation in energy intake, thermogenesis and body mass in root voles (Microtus oeconomus)

The present study was designed to examine whether photoperiod alone was effective to induce seasonal regulations in physiology in root voles (Microtus oeconomus) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau noted for its extreme cold environment. Root voles were randomly assigned into either long photoperiod (LD; 16L: 8D) or short photoperiod (SD; 8L: 16D) for 4 weeks at constant temperature (20 degrees C). At the end of acclimation, SD voles showed lower body mass and body fat coupled with higher energy intake than LD voles. SD greatly enhanced thermogenic capacities in root voles, as indicated by elevated basal metabolic rate (BMR), nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), mitochondrial protein content and uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) content in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Although no variations in serum leptin levels were found between SD and LD voles, serum leptin levels were positively correlated with body mass and body fat mass, and negatively correlated with energy intake and UCP1 content in BAT, respectively. To summarize, SD alone is effective in inducing higher thermogenic capacities and energy intake coupled with lower body mass and body fat mass in root voles. Leptin is potentially involved in the photoperiod induced body mass regulation and thermogenesis in root voles. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seasonal thermogenesis and body mass regulation in plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae)

Changes in photoperiod, ambient temperature and food availability trigger seasonal acclimatization in physiology and behavior of many animals. In the present study, seasonal adjustments in body mass and in several physiological, hormonal, and biochemical markers were examined in wild-captured plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Our results showed that plateau pikas maintained a relatively constant body mass throughout the year and showed no seasonal changes in body fat mass and circulating levels of serum leptin. However, nonshivering thermogenesis, cytochrome c oxidase activity, and mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) contents in brown adipose tissues were significantly enhanced in winter. Further, serum leptin levels were positively correlated with body mass and body fat mass while negatively correlated with UCP1 contents. Together, these data suggest that plateau pikas mainly depend on increasing thermogenic capacities, rather than decreasing body mass, to cope with cold, and leptin may play a potential role in their thermogenesis and body mass regulation.

Seasonal changes in weight and body composition of yak grazing on alpine-meadow grassland in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau of China

Forty-five male yaks (born April 2001) were studied to determine how seasonal changes on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau affected BW and body composition. Thirty yaks were weighed monthly from birth to 26 mo of age to determine seasonal changes in BW. The remaining 15 yaks were allocated randomly to five groups (three yaks per group), designated for slaughter at 13, 15, 18, 22, and 25 mo to measure seasonal effects on body chemical composition. All yaks were grazed on the alpine-meadow grassland of the plateau without any supplementation. All BW and body composition data were calculated on an individual basis. Body weight and body composition data were both compared across seven growth periods spanning 2 yr and defined by season. From April (birth) to December 2001 of the first growing season, yak BW increased (P < 0.01); however, during the subsequent cold season (December 2001 to May 2002), BW decreased (P < 0.01). The second growing season ran from May 2002 (13 mo of age) to October 2002 (18 mo of age), and the second live weight-loss season ran from October 2002 until May 2003. The weight loss experienced by yaks during the first weight loss season was 25.64% of the total weight gain in the first growing season. The weight loss experienced by yaks during the second weight-loss season was 29.73% of the total weight gain in the second growing season. Energy retention in the second growing season was 291.07 MJ, 50.8% of which was consumed during the subsequent cold season. Energy accumulation in the summer (from May to July) and fall (from July to October) of the second growing season did not differ (5.01 and 6.30 MJ/kg of EBW gain, respectively; P = 0.63). The energy mobilized during the second winter (from October 2002 to February 2003) was 16.49 MJ/kg of EBW, and in the second spring (from February to May 2003), it was 9.06 MJ/kg of EBW. These data suggest that the decrease in grazing yak BW during the first cold season is much less than during the second cold season, and that the energy content per unit of BW mobilized is greater (P = 0.02) in winter than in spring. Results from this study demonstrate highly efficient compensatory growth in grazing yaks following the first weight loss period during the first cold season. This benefit could be exploited by herders to improve yak production. Yaks may have developed a type of self-protection mechanism to overcome the long cold seasons in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

鄂尔多斯盆地陇东地区长8段砂岩输导体定量表征研究

Migration carriers act as the “Bridges” connecting source rock and traps and play important roles in petroleum migration and accumulation system. Among various types of carriers, sandstone carrier constitutes the basis of carrier system consisting of connected sandstone bodies, of sand-bodies connected with other carriers, such as faults and/or unconformities. How do we understand sandstone carrier beyond the traditional reservoirs concept? How could we characterize quantitatively this kind of carriers for petroleum migration? Such subjects are important and difficult contents in dynamic studies on hydrocarbon migration and accumulation. Sandstone carrier of Chang 8 member in Longdong area of Ordos Basin is selected as the research target in this thesis. Through conducting integrated reservoir analysis on many single wells, the correlation between single sandstone thickness and oil thickness seems good. Sketch sandstone is defined in this thesis as the principal part of carrier based on systematical analysis on lithology and sandstone thickness. Geometry connectivity of sandstone bodies was identified by the spatial superposition among them and was proved by the oil property features in oilfields. The connectivity between sandstone carriers is also hydrodynamically studied by observing and analyzed various diagenetic phenomena, especially the authigenic minerals and their forming sequence. The results were used to characterize transporting capability of sandstone carriers during the key petroleum migration periods. It was found that compaction and cementation are main causes to reduce pore space, and resolution may but not so importantly increases pore space after the occurrence of first migration. The cements of ferrocalcite and kiesel seem like the efficient index to demonstrate the hydraulic connection among sandy bodies. Diagenetic sequence and its relationship with petroleum migration phases are analyzed. Sandstone carrier of Chang 8 member was then characterized by studying their pore space and permeable properties. The results show an average porosity and permeability of Chang 8 carriers are respectively 8% and 0.50md, belongs to low porosity - low permeability reservoirs. Further, the physical properties of Chang 81 member are commonly better than those of Chang 82 member. Methods to reconstruct property of sandstone carrier during petroleum migration phase (late Jurassic) are built based on diagenetic sequence. Planal porosity, porosity and permeability of sandstone carrier in this period are statistically analyzed. One combining index - product of thickness and ancient porosity - is selected as the idea parameter to characterize sandstone carrier of late Jurassic after contrast with other parameters. Reservoirs of Chang 8 member in Longdong area are lithological reservoir controlled by sand body in which oil layers in middle part are clamped with dry layers in upper and lower parts, in a sandwich way. Based a newly proposed “migration-diagensis-remigration” model in low permeability sandstone of Chang 8 member in Longdong area, oil migration and accumulation processes during different periods are simulated with the reconstructed sandstone carriers system. Results match well with current reservoir distributions. Finally, suggestions for next favorable exploration areas are given based on all research achievements.

济阳坳陷陡坡带砂砾岩体发育特征及油气成藏规律研究

Jiyang depression is one of the most important petroleum production basins in China. The petroleum pools, found easier, have been densely explored and developed. At present, the subtle traps are becoming the main exploring aims. A lot of Tertiary sand-conglomerate body petroleum pools, as one of the important subtle pools, have been discovered recently. It is necessary and urgent to study deeply the developing characteristics and petroleum pool distribution of Tertiary sand-conglomerate bodies in Jiyang Depression. The present dissertation has concluded the main developing characteristics of the Tertiary sand-conglomerate bodies in Jiyang Depression, and studied the sand-conglomerate bodies in Chengnan Fault Zone in detail. Depending on the synthesized studies of geology, geophysics and logging data, the following conclusions have been arrived at. Four criterion layers in Member 3 of Shahejie Formation, according to the depositional cycle analyses, have been established for the subdivision of different layers of sand-conglomerate bodies and the correlation of different sand-conglomerate bodies. It indicated that the alluvial delta, delta-fan, alluvial fan, shallow water fan , deep water turbidite , fan-front turbidite are the six kinds of sand-conglomerate bodies, which have been distinguished in Jiyang Depression with the study of genetic types, characteristics and distribution of sand-conglomerate bodies. The shallow water fan, steep slope deep water turbidite and fan-front turbidite were the main types of sand-conglomerate bodies developed in Chengnan steep slope. Their identification and distribution have been described in detail. The development and distribution of sand-conglomerate bodies were resulted by fault depressing, palco-climate change and channel or trough on the uplift. The fault depressing is the most important-factor to the episodic developing of sand-conglomerate bodies. An episodic developing genetic mode has been established by the contrast analyses between episodic fault depressing and climate change cycles. The hydrocarbon accumulation in the sand-conglomerate bodies in the steep slope was correlated with fan types, depositional phases, fault depressing and diagenesis. Sand-conglomerate wedge out (include up-oblique and onlap), lithological wedge out, mud screen (for anticline), fault plugging (by mud opposite sand, mud daubing) are the 5 possible mechanisms of oil accumulation. Lithological pool, stratigraphic pool and tectonic pool and lithologic-tectonic complex pool, and 9 subtypes of petroleum pools have been detected. It is easy for different pools to be combined as a complex reservoir, which was distributed along the syn-depositional fault slopes. The sand-conglomerate bodies in deep sag were usually evaluated as pore zone for hydrocarbon accumulation before. In fact, they are potential. Because of fan-front turbidite sands were especially developed in these zones, the sands have a close connection with the oil mud, and lithological pools can be expected to find in these zones. Chengnan fault slope was main channel of oil migration, and mud screen is the principle key for the oil accumulation in the sand-conglomerate bodies. If there was no mud between the sand-conglomerate bodies or on the top of sand-conglomerate bodies, the sand-conglomerate bodies would connect each other and there would be no dense material to hold up the oil migration along the slope. As the sand-conglomerate bodies could not been taken as a screen, the mud screen is the key for developing pool in this slope. According to this principle, about 6 potential traps, such as C915 block, C913 block, C916 block, south of Y109 well block, Y104 block and Y153 block, were selected for exploration and development.

克拉2异常高压气藏地质特征及开发技术研究

Kela-2 gas field in Tarim Basin is the main supply source for West-to-East Pipeline project, also the largest abnormally-pressured gas field discovered in China currently. The geological characterization, fine geological modeling and field development plan are all the world-class difficult problems. This work includes an integrated geological and gas reservoir engineering study using advanced technology and approaches, the scientific development plan of Kela-2 gas field as well as the optimizations of the drilling, production and surface schemes. Then, it's expected that the Kela-2 gas field can be developed high-efficiently.Kuche depression is one part of the thrust belt of the South Tianshan Mountains, Kela-2 field is located at the Kelasu structural zone in the north of Kuche depression. The field territory is heavily rugged with deeply cut gullies, complex geological underground structure, variable rock types, thrust structure development. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to develop an integrated technique to acquire, process and interpret the seismic data in complicated mountain region. Consequently a set of seismic-related techniques in the complicated mountain region has been developed and successfully utilized to interpret the structure of Kela-2 gas field.The main reservoir depositional system of Kela 2 gas field is a platform - fan delta - braided river system. The reservoir rocks are medium-fine and extremely fine grained sandstones with high structure maturity and low composition maturity. The pore system structure is featured by medium-small pore, medium-fine throat and medium-low assortment. The reservoir of Kela-2 gas field is characteristic of medium porosity and medium permeability. The pay zone is very thick and its lateral distribution is stable with a good connection of sand body. The overpressure is caused mainly by the strongly tectonic squash activities, and other factors including the later rapid raise and compartment of the high-pressure fluid, the injection of high-pressure fluid into the reservoir.Based on the deliverability tests available, the average binomial deliverability equation is provided applicable for the overall field. The experimental results of rock stress-sensitive tests are employed to analyze the change trend of petrophysical properties against net confining stress, and establish the stress-based average deliverability equation. The results demonstrate the effect of rock deformation on the deliverability is limited to less than 5% in the early period of Kela-2 gas field, indicating the insignificant effect on deliverability of rock deformation.In terms of the well pattern comparisons and development planning optimizations, it is recommended that the producers should be located almost linearly along the structural axis. A total of 9 producers have a stable gas supply volume of 10.76 BCMPY for 17 years. For Kela-2 gas field the total construction investment is estimated at ￥7,697,690,000 RMB with the internal earning rate of 25.02% after taxation, the net present value of ￥7,420,160,000 RMB and the payback period of 5.66 years. The high profits of this field development project are much satisfactory.

A Connection Between GRBF and MLP

Both multilayer perceptrons (MLP) and Generalized Radial Basis Functions (GRBF) have good approximation properties, theoretically and experimentally. Are they related? The main point of this paper is to show that for normalized inputs, multilayer perceptron networks are radial function networks (albeit with a non-standard radial function). This provides an interpretation of the weights w as centers t of the radial function network, and therefore as equivalent to templates. This insight may be useful for practical applications, including better initialization procedures for MLP. In the remainder of the paper, we discuss the relation between the radial functions that correspond to the sigmoid for normalized inputs and well-behaved radial basis functions, such as the Gaussian. In particular, we observe that the radial function associated with the sigmoid is an activation function that is good approximation to Gaussian basis functions for a range of values of the bias parameter. The implication is that a MLP network can always simulate a Gaussian GRBF network (with the same number of units but less parameters); the converse is true only for certain values of the bias parameter. Numerical experiments indicate that this constraint is not always satisfied in practice by MLP networks trained with backpropagation. Multiscale GRBF networks, on the other hand, can approximate MLP networks with a similar number of parameters.