Biotransfer of persistent organic pollutants from a large site in China used for the disassembly of electronic and electrical waste

Samples of groundwater, river water, river sediment, paddy soil, rice seeds, hen eggs, fish, umbilical cord blood, and newborn meconium were collected from October 2002 to October 2003 near a large site in China used for the disassembly of obsolete transformers and other electronic or electrical waste. Six indicator PCB congeners, three non-ortho dioxin-like PCB congeners, and six organochlorine pesticides were determined in the samples by GC with electron capture detector. The results demonstrated that the local environment and edible foods had been seriously polluted by toxic PCBs and organochlorine pesticides. The actual daily intakes (ADIs) of these pollutants were estimated for local residents living in the area. The intake data showed that the contents of PCBs in these local residents were substantial, as the ADI estimates greatly exceed the reference doses set by the World Health Organization and the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The presence of the indicator PCB congeners in the cord blood and the meconium samples, as well as significant correlations (r(2) > 0.80, p < 0.05) between these levels, suggests a potential biotransfer of these indicators from mothers to their newborns. This preliminary study showed that obsolete transformers and other electronic or electrical waste can be an important source for the emission of persistent organic pollutants into the local environment, such as through leakage, evaporation, runoff, and leaching. Contamination from this source appears to have reached the level considered to be a serious threat to environmental and human health around the disassembly site.

A screening study on persistent bioaccumulation toxins (PBT) in fuel combustion soot

Persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs) are organic substances that are persistent, bioaccumulative and can cause severe toxic effects (e.g. potential oncogens, mutagenic, endocrine disrupters) to human health or environment which are the ones that need special attention. PBT chemicals could be released to the environment from several types of sources and are ubiquitous in environment. However, fast and efficiency monitoring and assessment methods to investigate PBTs in environment are still lacking. In this study, a cleaning-up procedure of analyzing PBTs in fuels combustion soot was developed and its performance was assessed through comparing the chromatograms of crude extracts with their cleaned extracts after the cleaning-up procedure. The results showed that polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) were the main components in fuel combustion soot and the clean-up procedure developed in this paper can be well used as the method of analyzing PBTs in fuels combustion soot.

Partial compensatory growth in hybrid tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus x O-niloticus following food deprivation

The capacity of hybrid tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus x O. niloticus [23.2 +/- 0.2 g (mean +/- SE)] to show compensatory growth was assessed in an 8-week experiment. Fish were deprived of feed for 1, 2 and 4 weeks, and then fed to satiation for 4 weeks; fish fed to satiation during the experiment served as control. Water temperature gradually declined from 28.1 to 25.5 degrees C throughout the experiment. Specific growth rate (SGR) decreased with progressive food deprivation. At the end of deprivation, body weight was lower in the deprived fish than in the control. Fish deprived for 4 weeks exhibited lower contents of lipids and energy in whole body, and higher moisture content and ratio of protein to energy (P/E) than those of the control; they also consumed feed faster than the control when normal feeding was resumed. All deprived fish showed higher food intake (FI) than that of the control during re-alimentation; however, enhanced SGR was only observed in the fish deprived for 4 weeks. There were no significant differences in digestibility of protein and energy, food efficiency (FE) or energy retention efficiency between the control and deprived fish. At the end of re-alimentation, deprived fish failed to catch up in body weight with the control, while content of moisture, lipids and energy, and P/E in whole body of the deprived fish did not significantly differ from that of the control. The results of the experiment revealed that the hybrid tilapia reared in freshwater showed partial capacity for compensatory growth following food deprivation of 4 weeks, and that growth compensation was due mainly to increased FI, rather than to improved FE.

Compensatory growth and food consumption in gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, and Chinese longsnout catfish, Leiocassis longirostris, experiencing cycles of feed deprivation and re-feeding

The compensatory responses of juvenile gibel carp and Chinese longsnout catfish to four cycles of 1 part of a study designed to determine feeding regimes that would maximise growth rates. Both species showed compensatory growth in the re-feeding periods. The compensation was not sufficient for the deprived fish to match the growth trajectories of controls fed to satiation daily. The compensatory growth response was more clearly defined in the later cycles. The deprived fish showed hyperphagia during the 2-week periods of re-feeding and the hyperphagic response was clearer in the later cycles. The hyperphagia tended to persist for both weeks of the re-feeding period. The gibel carp showed no difference in gross growth efficiency between deprived and control fish. In the catfish, the gross growth efficiency of the deprived fish was marginally higher than that of control fish, but the efficiency varied erratically from week to week. Over the experiment, the deprived fish achieved growth rates 75-80% of those shown by control fish, although fed at a frequency of 66%. There was no evidence of growth over-compensation with the deprivation-re-feeding protocol used in this study. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of cycles of feed deprivation on growth and food consumption of immature three-spined sticklebacks and European minnows

Individual juvenile three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus and European minnow Phoxinus phoxinus, from sympatric populations, were subjected to four cycles of I week of food deprivation and 2 weeks of ad libitum feeding. Mean specific growth rate during the weeks of deprivation was negative and did not differ between species. The three-spined stickleback showed sufficient growth compensation to recover to the growth trajectory shown by control fish daily fed ad libitum. The compensation was generated by hyperphagia during the re-feeding periods, and in the last two periods of re-feeding, the gross growth efficiencies of deprived three-spined sticklebacks were greater than in control fish. The expression of the compensatory changes in growth and food consumption became clearer over the successive periods of re-feeding. The European minnow developed only a weak compensatory growth response and the mass trajectory of the deprived fish deviated more and more from the control trajectory During re-feeding periods, there were no significant differences in food consumption or gross growth efficiency between control and deprived European minnows. The differences between the two species are discussed in terms of the possible costs of compensatory growth, the control of growth and differences in feeding biology (C) 2003 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Compensatory growth response in three-spined stickleback in relation to feed-deprivation protocols

Different protocols of food deprivation were used to bring two groups of juvenile three-spined sticklebacks Gaslerosteus aculeatus to the same reduced body mass in comparison with a control group fed daily ad libitum. One group experienced I week or deprivation then 2 weeks on maintenance rations. The second group experienced I week of ad lithium feeding followed by 2 weeks of deprivation. The deprived groups were reduced to a mean mass ore. 80% of controls. The compensatory growth response shown when ad libitum feeding was resumed was independent of the trajectory by which the three-spined sticklebacks had reached the reduced body mass. The compensatory response was Sufficient to return the deprived groups to the mass and length trajectories shown by the control group within 4 weeks. There was full compensation for dry mass and total lipid, but incomplete compensation for lipid-free dry mass. Hyperphagia and increased growth efficiency were present in the re-feeding phase, but there was a lag of a week before the hyperphagia was established. The consistency of the compensatory response of immature three-spined sticklebacks provides a potential model system for the analysis and prediction of appetite and growth in teleosts. (C) 2003 The Fisheries Society of the British isles.

Persistent organic pollutants in water and surface sediments of Taihu Lake, China and risk assessment

Organic pollutants, especially persistent organic pollutants were examined in the water and surface sediments of Taihu Lake, China. Both 12 water and 12 sediment samples were collected over the lake. C-18 solid-phase extraction technique was applied to extract organic pollutants in collected water samples. Soxhlet extraction procedure was used to extract organic pollutants in sediment samples. The analysis was performed by GC-MS controlled by a Hewlett Packard chemstation. Two hundred and seventy-three kinds of organic chemicals in water were examined, 200 more than that detected in 1985; 188 kinds of chemicals in sediments were detected as well. Among them 21 kinds of chemicals belong to priority pollutants as well as 17 kinds to be the endocrine disruptors. The concentrations of the pollutants were more than 2 times higher than that in 1985. The possible source and relation to anthropogenic activity were discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Endocrine effects of sublethal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPS) on silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)

Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) samples were collected from five selected sites that represent diverse levels of downgraded persistent organic pollutants (POPs) contamination in Ya-Er Lake in October 1999. Hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT) activities, hepatosomatic index (HSI), hepatic retinoids, serum thyroid hormones were measured. It was found that hepatic retinol and serum free 3,5,3'- tetraiodothyronine (FT3) significantly increased (P < 0.01) when both hepatic EROD and UDPGT activities significantly declined (P < 0.01) from pond 1 to 5 with decrease in the degree of pollution. This significant negative correlation (P < 0.01) suggests that the persistent organochlorinated contaminants could induce hepatic EROD and UDPGT activities, alter retinoid and thyroid hormone homeostasis, and finally lead to the reduction of retinol and FT3, the two biologically active forms of retinoids and thyroid hormone in silver carp of Ya-Er Lake. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compensatory growth in the gibel carp following feed deprivation: temporal patterns in growth, nutrient deposition, feed intake and body composition

To investigate the nature of compenstory growth in fish, an 8 week study at 28 degreesC was performed on juvenile gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio weighing 6.6 g. Fish were starved for 0 (control), 1 (Sl)or 2 (S2) weeks and then re-fed to satiation For 5 weeks. Weekly changes in weight gain, feed intake and body composition were monitored during re-feeding. No significant difference was found in final body weight between the three groups, indicating complete compensation in the deprived fish, The deprived groups caught up in body weight with that of the control after 2 weeks of re-feeding. Body fat:lean body mass ratio was restored to the control level within 1 week of re-feeding. In the re-feeding period, weekly gains in body weight, protein. lipid, ash and energy in the S1 group were significantly higher than in the controls for 1 week. For the S2 group, weekly gains in body weight. lipid. ash and energy were higher than in the controls for 2 weeks, and gain in protein was higher than in the controls for 3 weeks, though gain in body energy became elevated again during the last 2 weeks of the experiment. Feed intake remained higher than the control level for 3 weeks in the S1 group and 3 weeks in the SZ group. Growth efficiency was not significantly different among the three groups in any of the weeks during re-feeding. Compensatory responses in growth and especially feed intake tended to last longer than the recovery of body composition. (C) 2001 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Comparison of compensatory growth responses of juvenile three-spined stickleback and minnow following similar food deprivation protocols

The compensatory growth responses of individual juveniles of two co-existing species were compared after identical periods of starvation to determine inter-specific similarities and differences. The carnivorous stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus was compared with the omnivorous minnow Phoxinus phoxinus. Both species experienced 1 or 2 weeks of starvation before being re-fed ad libitum. The two species differed in their response to the starvation periods, with minnows showing a lower weight-specific loss. Both species showed compensatory responses in appetite, growth and to a lesser extent, growth efficiency. Minnows wholly compensated for 1 and 2 weeks of starvation. At the end of the experiment, sticklebacks starved For 2 weeks were still showing a compensatory response and had nut achieved full compensation. The compensatory responses of the sticklebacks showed a lag of a week before developing in the re-feeding phase, whereas the response of the minnows was immediate. Analysis of lipid and dry matter concentrations suggested that the compensatory response restored reserve lipids while also bringing the fish back to the growth trajectory of continuously fed fish. (C) 2001 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Compensatory growth, feed utilization and activity in gibel carp, following feed deprivation

Following a period of food deprivation, gibel carp compensated for growth through increased feed intake and conversion efficiency, but increased conversion efficiency was not achieved by increasing digestibility or reducing activity. (C) 2000 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Spin states and persistent currents in a quantum ring with an embedded magnetic impurity

Spin states and persistent currents are investigated theoretically in a quantum ring with an embedded magnetic ion under a uniform magnetic field including the spin-orbit interactions. The magnetic impurity acts as a spin-dependent delta-potential for electrons and results in gaps in the energy spectrum, consequently suppressing the oscillation of the persistent currents. The competition between the Zeeman splittings and the s-d exchange interaction leads to a transition of the electron ground state in the ring. The interplay between the periodic potential induced by the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions and the delta-potential induced by the magnetic impurity leads to significant variation in the energy spectrum, charge density distribution, and persistent currents of electrons in the ring.

Spin states and persistent currents in mesoscopic rings: Spin-orbit interactions

We investigate theoretically electron spin states in one-dimensional and two-dimensional (2D) hard-wall mesoscopic rings in the presence of both the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) and the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (DSOI) in a perpendicular magnetic field. The Hamiltonian of the RSOI alone is mathematically equivalent to that of the DSOI alone using an SU(2) spin rotation transformation. Our theoretical results show that the interplay between the RSOI and DSOI results in an effective periodic potential, which consequently leads to gaps in the energy spectrum. This periodic potential also weakens and smoothens the oscillations of the persistent charge current and spin current and results in the localization of electrons. For a 2D ring with a finite width, higher radial modes destroy the periodic oscillations of persistent currents.

Study of persistent photoconductivity and subband electronic properties of the two-dimensional electron gas in modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs structure

We obtained the high mobility Of mu(2K) = 1.78 x 10(6) cm(2)/V . s in Si-doped GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) structures. After the sample was illuminated by a light-emitting diode in magnetic fields up to 6 T at T = 2K, we did observe the persistent photoconductivity effect and the electron density increased obviously. The electronic properties of 2DEG have been studied by Quantum-Hall-effect and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation measurements. We found that the electron concentrations of two subbands increase simultaneity with the increasing total electron concentration, and the electron mobility also increases obviously after being illuminated. At the same time, we also found that the electronic quantum lifetime becomes shorter, and a theoretical explunation is given through the widths of integral quantum Hall plateaus.

Bloch oscillation under a bichromatic laser: Dynamical delocalization and localization, persistent terahertz emission, and harmonics generation

A novel AC driving configuration is proposed for biased semiconductor superlattices, in which the THz driving is provided by an intense bichromatic cw laser in the visible light range. The frequency difference between two components of the laser is resonant with the Bloch oscillation. Thus, multi-photon processes mediated by the conduction (valence) band states lead to dynamical delocalization and localization of the valence (conduction) electrons, and to the formation and collapse of quasi-minibands. Thus, driven Bloch oscillators are predicted to generate persistent THz emission and harmonics of the dipole field, which are tolerant of the exciton and the relaxation effects.