Characterizing long-term forest disturbance history and its drivers in the Ning-Zhen Mountains,Jiangsu Province of eastern China using yearly Landsat observations (1987–2011)

Forest losses or gains have long been recognized as critical processes modulating the carbon flux between the biosphere and the atmosphere. Timely, accurate and spatially explicit information on forest disturbance and recovery history is required for assessing the effectiveness of existing forest management. The major objectives of our research focused on testing the mapping efficacy of the vegetation change tracker (VCT) model over a forested area in China. We used a new version of VCT algorithm built upon the Landsat time series stacks (LTSS). The LTSS consisted of yearly image acquisitions to map forest disturbance history from 1987 to 2011 over the Ning-Zhen Mountains, Jiangsu Province of east China. The LTSS consisted of TM and ETM+ scenes with different projections due to distinct data sources (Beijing remote sensing ground station and the USGS EROS Center). The validation results of the disturbance year maps showed that most spatial agreement measures ranged from 70 to 86 %, comparable with the VCT accuracies reported for many places in USA. Very low accuracies were identified in 1995 (38.3 %) and 1992 (56.2 %) in the current analysis. These resulted from the insensitivity of the VCT algorithm to detect low intensity disturbances and also from the mis-registration errors of the image pairs. Major forest disturbance types existing in our study area were identified as agricultural expansion (39.8 %), urbanization (24.9 %), forest management practice (19.3 %), and mining (12.8 %). In general, there was a gradual decreasing trend in forest cover throughout this region, caused principally by China’s economic, demographic, environmental and political policies and decisions, as well as some weather events. While VCT has largely been used to assess long term changes and trends in the USA, it has great potential for assessing landscape level change elsewhere throughout the world.     

温差发电装置在单缸柴油机上的应用

对温差发电装置中的主要器件热电转换模块进行了热电耦合模拟并在单缸机上进行实验验证,温差的大小是决定发电效率的直接因素之一。对热电模块在温差发电装置上的安装以及装置在单缸机排气管上的安装做系统分析。设计恒压电路,使温差装置所回收的电能有效的充入蓄电池。当电路中的电流达到1A时,24块热电模块能回收132W的能量,相当于额定功率的1%。     

Effect of ammonia and nitrite on vigour,survival rate,moulting rate of the blue swimming crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Portunus pelagicus</Emphasis> zoea

The effects of ammonia and nitrite on vigour, survival rate, moulting rate of zoea of blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus, were studied. A total of five nitrite-N treatments (26.67, 53.34, 106.68, 213.36, 426.72 mg/l) and a control (no nitrite-N added) were set up for the acute nitrite-N toxicity experiment; a total of five ammonia-N treatments (8.43, 16.86, 33.72, 67.44, 134.88 mg/l) and a control (no ammonia-N added) were set up for the acute ammonia-N toxicity experiment. The results showed that the vigour, survival rate and moulting rate of zoea of the blue swimming crabs exposed to over 53.34 mg/l were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the control group. The zoea LC₅₀ values (mg/l) of nitrite-N were 179.47, 76.56, 66.70, 37.49, 25.01, 25.35, 25.34 mg/l for 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96 h, respectively. The vigour, survival rate and moulting rate of zoea of the blue swimming crabs exposed to over 16.86 mg/l were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the control group. The zoea LC₅₀ values (mg/l) of ammonia-N were 51.04, 39.62, 38.72, 24.43, 16.90, 13.42, 11.16 mg/l for 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96 h, respectively. The zoeae are highly sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, and the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite on Portunus pelagicus decrease with development of this crab.     

Effect of hay type on cecal and fecal microbiome and fermentation parameters in horses

The effect of hay type on the microbiome of the equine gastrointestinal tract is relatively unexplored. Our objective was to characterize the cecal and fecal microbiome of mature horses consuming alfalfa or Smooth Bromegrass (brome) hay. Six cecally cannulated horses were used in a split-plot design run as a crossover in two periods. The whole plot treatment was ad libitum access to brome or alfalfa hay fed over two 21-d acclimation periods with subplots of sampling location (cecum and rectum) and sampling hour. Each acclimation period was followed by a 24-h collection period where cecal and fecal samples were collected every 3 h for analysis of pH and volatile fatty acids (VFA). Fecal and cecal samples were pooled and sent to a commercial lab (MR DNA, Shallowater, TX) for the amplification of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene and sequenced using Illumina HiSeq. The main effects of hay on VFA, pH, and taxonomic abundances were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of hay, hour, location, period, and all possible interactions and random effect of horse. Alpha and beta diversities were analyzed using the R Dame package. Horses fed alfalfa had greater fecal than cecal pH (P ≤ 0.05), whereas horses fed brome had greater cecal than fecal pH (P ≤ 0.05). Regardless of hay type, total VFA concentrations were greater (P ≤ 0.05) in the cecum than in feces, and alfalfa resulted in greater (P ≤ 0.05) VFA concentrations than brome in both sampling locations. Alpha diversity was greater (P ≤ 0.05) in fecal compared with cecal samples. Microbial community structure within each sampling location and hay type differed from one another (P ≤ 0.05). Bacteroidetes were greater (P ≤ 0.05) in the cecum compared with the rectum, regardless of hay type. Firmicutes and Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes were greater (P ≤ 0.05) in the feces compared with cecal samples of alfalfa-fed horses. In all, fermentation parameters and bacterial abundances were impacted by hay type and sampling location in the hindgut.     

Characteristics of 18F-FDG and 18F-FDOPA PET in an 8-year-old neutered male Yorkshire Terrier dog with glioma: long-term chemotherapy using hydroxyurea plus imatinib with prednisolone and immunoreactivity for PDGFR-β and LAT1

An 8-year-old neutered male Yorkshire Terrier dog presented with head pressing, vestibular ataxia, neck tenderness, and no oculocephalic reflex. A demarcated lesion in the pons was identified on MRI. The patient was tentatively diagnosed with a glioma and was treated with hydroxyurea plus imatinib and prednisolone. After 30 days of therapeutic treatment, the patient showed a clear improvement in neurological signs, which lasted for 1117 days. On day 569 after the initiation of treatment, ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) was performed with no significant findings on visual analysis. The average and maximal standardized uptake values (SUVs) were 1.92 and 2.29, respectively. The tumor-to-normal-tissue (T/N) ratio was 0.97. The first evidence of clinical deterioration was noticed on day 1147. On day 1155, 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[¹⁸F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine (¹⁸F-FDOPA)-PET was performed. High uptake of ¹⁸F-FDOPA was observed in the intracranial lesion. The mean and maximal SUVs of the tumor were 1.59 and 2.29, respectively. The T/N ratio was 2.22. The patient was euthanized on day 1155 and histopathologic evaluations confirmed glioma (astrocytoma). This case shows that chemotherapy with hydroxyurea plus imatinib may be considered in the treatment of canine glioma. Furthermore, this is the first case describing the application of ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-FDOPA in a dog with glioma.     

陕西省西安市牛羊养殖场职业暴露高危人群布鲁氏菌感染相关风险因素分析

为掌握陕西省西安市牛羊养殖场职业暴露人群布鲁氏菌感染风险因素,做好高危人群布鲁氏菌病防控工作,2019年对西安市39个布鲁氏菌病阳性养殖场及346位职业暴露高危人群进行流行学调查,并采用单因素分析及多因素logistic回归分析,找出养殖场高危人群感染风险因素。结果显示:畜间布鲁氏菌病在养殖方式上主要发生于散养场(27/39),时间上发生于4月、7—8月、10月,在畜种上以羊群为主(28/39)。对从业人员主观潜在风险因素的单因素分析发现,感染从业人员与未感染高危人员在挤奶、喝生牛羊乳、接生、免疫、接触流产畜(流产物及粪便)病差异均有统计学意义(P 0.05);多因素logistic回顾分析发现,挤奶(OR=2.435,95%CI=1.137～5.071)、喝生牛羊乳(OR=2.893,95%CI=1.218～7.569)、接生(OR=3.217,95%CI=1.382～8.036)、接触流产畜(流产物及粪便,OR=2.439,95%CI=1.175～5.209)是从业人员感染的风险因素。同时,对养殖场客观潜在风险因素的单因素分析及多因素logistic回顾分析显示,场区消毒(OR=0.694,95%CI=0.307～1.043)、流产病死畜无害化处理(OR=0.549,95%CI=0.325～1.105)也是从业人员感染的风险因素。结果表明,挤奶、喝生牛羊乳、接生、接触流产畜(流产物及粪便)是从业人员感染的主观性风险因素,场区消毒、流产病死畜无害化处理是从业人员感染的客观风险因素。结果提示,牛羊养殖场及从业人员应加强对上述感染风险因素的控制,降低暴露风险。同时,相关机构应开展牛羊养殖场职业暴露人群布鲁氏菌病防控知识科普宣传,提升其防范能力。