Stable Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Compositions of Lates stappersii Otoliths from Lake Tanganyika,East Africa

In this study, we measured growth trends in oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in whole sagittal otoliths from three adult centropomid fish (Lates stappersii) from each of three sub-basins of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. Sampling density was 20 to 50 samples per otolith. Both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values increase with age. The δ¹⁸O data suggest that otoliths were precipitated near the expected equilibrium with the ambient environment (ca. +3.5‰) and support a migration pattern from surface waters during larval stages to deeper waters (40 to 80 m) for mature fish. Relatively high δ¹⁸O values in the southern sub-basin are consistent with cooler temperatures in the region during seasonal upwelling. The δ13C increase from otolith core to edge is large (up to 4‰) and is interpreted as due to ontogenetic changes in diet and contributions from a decrease in the proportion of respired CO₂ incorporated into otolith carbonate as metabolic rates of the fish dropped with maturity. The data seem to successfully reveal life strategy and migration patterns of L. stappersii, document regional differences in lake conditions, and provide a record of temperature within the water column during which the fish lived. Higher resolution studies and analyses of historical samples could be used to constrain modern and past growth patterns, and to reconstruct past temperature gradients and productivity patterns in the lake.     

High-rate sulphidogenic fluidised-bed treatment of metal-containing wastewater at high temperature.

The applicability of fluidised-bed reactor (FBR) based sulphate reducing bioprocess was investigated for the treatment of iron containing (40-90 mg/L) acidic wastewater at 65 degrees C. The FBR was inoculated with sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) originally enriched from a hot mining environment. Ethanol or acetate was supplemented as carbon and electron source for the SRB. A rapid startup with 99.9, 46 and 29% ethanol, sulphate and acetate removals, in respective order, was observed even after 6 days. Iron was almost completely removed with a rate of 90 mg/L.d. The feed pH was decreased gradually from its initial value of 6 to around 3.7 during 100 days of operation. The wastewater pH of 4.3-4.4 was neutralised by the alkalinity produced in acetate oxidation and the average effluent pH was 7.8 +/- 0.8. Although ethanol removal was complete, acetate accumulated. Later the FBR was fed with acetate only. Although acetate was present in the reactor for 295 days, its oxidation rates did not improve, which may be due to low growth rate and poor attachment ability of acetate oxidising SRB. Hence, the oxidation of acetate is the rate limiting step in the sulphidogenic ethanol oxidation by the thermophilic SRB.     

Hydrogen reduction kinetics of electrometallurgical slime

The interaction of hydrogen with the zinc-containing electrometallurgical slime of the Severstal’ metallurgical works has been studied. The sequence of transformations in the slime heated to 1100°C in hydrogen or air has been established. The experimental and calculated weight losses coincide. Some of the carbonates are shown to decompose in the temperature range 300–700°C, and most iron and zinc oxides are reduced to a metal. In the temperature range 650–850°C, zinc is almost completely sublimated. At temperatures above 800°C, complex oxides are reduced and calcium and magnesium carbonates and sulfates are likely to decompose. Experimental digital data on the zinc sublimation rate are processed by the least squares method with approximating equations used in thermal analysis. The kinetics of nonisothermal zinc sublimation is comprehensively analyzed using a unique procedure developed for taking into account the background of a peak and the effect of accompanying processes. An equation for the calculation of the zinc sublimation rate under experimental conditions (fluidized bed) is given and tested.     

External heat transfer in infiltrated granular beds. Experimental study

Experimental data was obtained on external heat transfer in infiltrated granular beds of coarse particles. It was determined that calcualtions with the proposed model agree satisfactorily with the experimental results.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 919–923, December, 1988.     

Comment on "Exceptions to Hick's law: Explorations with a response duration measure" (Longstreth, El-Zahhar, & Alcorn, 1985).

Longstreth, El-Zahhar, and Alcorn's (1985) rejection of Hick's law is critically examined and alternative explanations of the available data are considered. An elaboration of Hick's law to include task-dependent search strategies seems able to account for a broader range of data than the Longstreth et al. model. Further study the determinants of such stategies would be useful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organochlorine Contaminants of Wintering Ducks Foraging on Detroit River Sediments

Organochlorine analysis was performed on carcasses of 13 diving ducks from a 1981 wintering population that foraged on contaminated sediments in the lower Detroit River. Mean total PCB concentrations were 10 mg/kg for seven lesser scaups (Aythya affinis), 11 mg/kg for three greater scaups (A. marila), and 7.6 mg/kg for three goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula). Highest mean levels of other residues were measured for hexachlorobenzene (1.7 mg/kg) in goldeneyes, and transnonachlor (0.33 mg/kg) and 4,4’-DDE (1.3 mg/kg) in greater scaup. Quantitative analysis of 72 PCB congeners also was applied to water, seston, sediment, benthie oligochaetes, and carp from the same site. Principal congeners in most of the samples included some of the more toxic and persistent PCBs. Results of a multivariate analysis indicated that ratios of more conservative to less conservative PCBs did not vary significantly among ducks (α = .05), but differed from those in carp, oligochaetes, and sediment. For the February through March period of fat mobilization, concentrations of total PCB in lipid were inversely correlated with percent lipid (r = 0.76) in ducks. The percentage of conservative PCBs increased slightly. The distribution and partitioning of organochlorines, including toxic PCB congeners, varied considerably within this water column-sediment-fauna ecosystem. Estimates of toxic exposure based on total PCB values may be unreliable.