Use of reflex indicators for measuring vitality and mortality of the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in captivity

The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) is one of the most important commercial crabs in the world; it is heavily exploited in Atlantic Canada, Alaska, the Sea of Japan and the Barents Sea. Catches in the Barents Sea north of Norway have increased dramatically in the last decade. Most of the world's catch is processed, frozen and exported overseas. However, recently there has been considerable interest in exporting live snow crab, particularly in Norway. The stress of capture and live transport can result in significant mortalities. In order to establish a live export industry for snow crab, the welfare of the animal must be monitored throughout all the steps of the live transport process. In this study the reactions of snow crabs exposed to increasing periods of air exposure were measured in terms of reflex indicators, incidence of mortality, blood lactate levels and blood protein and haemocyanin. Although this is not a specific live holding or live transport process the aim was to test the suitability of reflex indicators to reflect vitality (stress) and not just to predict mortality. This would be compared with traditional blood biochemistry techniques for measuring crustacean stress. The study demonstrated that the reflex index score (RIS) is suitable to assess the vitality of snow crab. Longer air exposure periods render higher mortality rates and less vital individuals. The authors believe using vitality reflex indicators would be a suitable way of measuring crab welfare during the live holding and transport process.     

Robotic weeders can improve weed control options for specialty crops

Specialty crop herbicides are not a priority for the agrochemical industry, and many of these crops do not have access to effective herbicides. High‐value fruit and vegetable crops represent small markets and high potential liability in the case of herbicide‐induced crop damage. Meanwhile, conventional and organic specialty crop producers are experiencing labor shortages and higher manual weeding costs. Robotic weeders are promising new weed control tools for specialty crops, because they are cheaper to develop and, with fewer environmental and human health risks, are less regulated than herbicides. Now is the time for greater investment in robotic weeders as new herbicides are expensive to develop and few in number, organic crops need better weed control technology and governments are demanding reduced use of pesticides. Public funding of fundamental research on robotic weeder technology can help improve weed and crop recognition, weed control actuators, and expansion of weed science curricula to train students in this technology. Robotic weeders can expand the array of tools available to specialty crop growers. However, the development of robotic weeders will require a broader recognition that these tools are a viable path to create new weed control tools for specialty crops. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

不同太阳能干燥量对对虾干燥品质特性和能耗的影响

以南美白对虾为试材，研究了不同太阳能干燥量（1、2、3、4 kg）对南美白对虾干燥速率、水分活度、硬度、弹性、咀嚼性、色泽、收缩率、复水率等品质特性和干燥能耗的影响。结果表明，干燥量越大，干燥速率越慢，干燥时间越长；不同干燥量干燥初期，南美白对虾的水分活度变化不明显，不同干燥量间差异不明显，当干燥到一定程度（干燥到5 h时），不同干燥量下水分活度出现显著差异（P＜0.05）；干燥量为3 kg与4 kg 时，南美白对虾干燥产品咀嚼性分别为137.41 mJ和131.06 mJ，显著优于其他干燥量（P＜0.05）；不同干燥量条件下，南美白对虾干燥后的色泽变化趋势不明显；干燥量3 kg与4 kg，干燥后的南美白对虾收缩率分别为22%和21.2%，复水率分别为73.0%和76.5%，收缩率显著低于、复水率显著高于其他干燥量（P＜0.05）；干燥量为3 kg，干燥时间为7 h时，总干燥能耗最低，为10.25 kWh，显著低于其他处理（P＜0.05）。干燥量3~4 kg时，南美白对虾干燥产品的咀嚼性、色泽、收缩率、复水率等理化特性优于其他干燥量，干燥能耗低，适于干燥南美白对虾产品。     

Improving cereal yield forecasts in Europe – The impact of weather extremes

The impact of extreme events (such as prolonged droughts, heat waves, cold shocks and frost) is poorly represented by most of the existing yield forecasting systems. Two new model-based approaches that account for the impact of extreme weather events on crop production are presented as a way to improve yield forecasts, both based on the Crop Growth Monitoring System (CGMS) of the European Commission. A first approach includes simple relations – consistent with the degree of complexity of the most generic crop simulators – to explicitly model the impact of these events on leaf development and yield formation. A second approach is a hybrid system which adds selected agro-climatic indicators (accounting for drought and cold/heat stress) to the previous one. The new proposed methods, together with the CGMS-standard approach and a system exclusively based on selected agro-climatic indicators, were evaluated in a comparative fashion for their forecasting reliability. The four systems were assessed for the main micro- and macro-thermal cereal crops grown in highly productive European countries. The workflow included the statistical post-processing of model outputs aggregated at national level with historical series (1995–2013) of official yields, followed by a cross-validation for forecasting events triggered at flowering, maturity and at an intermediate stage. With the system based on agro-climatic indicators, satisfactory performances were limited to microthermal crops grown in Mediterranean environments (i.e. crop production systems mainly driven by rainfall distribution). Compared to CGMS-standard system, the newly proposed approaches increased the forecasting reliability in 94% of the combinations crop × country × forecasting moment. In particular, the explicit simulation of the impact of extreme events explained a large part of the inter-annual variability (up to +44% for spring barley in Poland), while the addition of agro-climatic indicators to the workflow mostly added accuracy to an already satisfactory forecasting system.     

乳清蛋白对以麦芽糊精为助剂桑葚汁喷雾干燥性能影响

桑葚富含多酚类物质,具有一定的营养与保健功能。多酚类物质在加工及贮藏过程中非常不稳定,喷雾干燥法微胶囊包埋是保护生物活性成分常采用的方法。但是,果汁喷雾干燥过程中极易出现黏壁现象,导致粉末回收率较低。基于此,研究不同比例乳清分离蛋白(WPI)与麦芽糊精(MD)对喷雾干燥桑葚粉理化特性的影响。结果表明,进料液中以少量WPI取代MD能显著提高桑葚粉的回收率,WPI较高的表面活性与良好的成膜性是使桑葚粉回收率提高的主要原因。随着进料溶液中WPI质量分数的增加,桑葚粉含水率增加;水分活度、堆积密度、粒径、水溶性指数和玻璃化转变温度呈降低趋势,而吸湿性则无明显变化。随着进料溶液中WPI质量分数的增加,桑葚粉L值、b值增加,a值降低,色差ΔE增加。桑葚粉的总酚含量与清除自由基能力随进料溶液中WPI质量分数的增加呈降低趋势。当进料溶液中桑葚汁/MD/WPI质量比为65∶(34.5~30.0)∶(0.5~5.0)时,既能有效解决黏壁问题,又能较好地抑制桑葚汁中多酚类成分降解,使桑葚粉具有较高的抗氧化能力。     

不同灌溉方式对农田土壤性状和花生落果率的影响

于2014―2015年度麦茬花生生长季,设置移动式管灌、微喷带灌溉和不灌溉3种处理,研究了不同灌溉方式下农田土壤体积质量、土壤孔隙度、水稳定性土壤团聚体组成、花生产量和花生落果率的变化。结果表明,与移动式管灌处理相比,微喷带灌溉处理的土壤体积质量、粒径小于0.25 mm水稳定性土壤团聚体数量和花生落果率分别降低了7.6%、6.4%和66.8%,土壤孔隙度增加了8.4%,而2处理间花生产量没有显著差异。综合考虑花生产量,土壤物理性状和花生落果率的变化,微喷带灌溉是试验条件下能够降低花生收获难度的灌溉方式。     

中国粮食主产区主要气象因子时空演变特征及其对参考作物蒸散量影响

准确评估粮食主产区气象因子变化特征及对参考作物蒸散量(reference crop evapotranspiration,ET0)的影响,对农田水文循环、区域农业水资源优化配置与高效利用等具有重要意义。利用中国粮食主产区258个气象站点1961―2013年的逐日气象资料,采用Penman-Monteith公式计算ET0,通过M-K趋势检验法、偏相关分析、多元线性回归计算贡献率等方法,分析了1961—2013年中国粮食主产区主要气象因子时空演变及其对ET0变化的贡献特征。结果表明,1961—2013年中国粮食主产区相对湿度、温度、降水在空间上由南至北呈降低趋势,而日照时间和风速则由南至北呈增高趋势;1961—2013年中国粮食主产区全区、温带湿润半湿润地区(I区)、温带干旱半干旱地区(II区)、亚热带湿润地区(III区)及暖温带半湿润地区(IV区)多年平均气温均呈增大趋势,平均风速、相对湿度、降水与日照时间均呈减小趋势;1961—2013年中国粮食主产区年内ET0均呈锯齿状下降,且ET0在四季呈现出夏季春季秋季冬季的特征;多年平均风速、气温、日照时间与ET0在全区及各分区总体均显著正相关(P0.05),而相对湿度与ET0在全区及各分区均极显著负相关(P0.01);1961—2013年中国粮食主产区全区及I~IV区气温、风速、相对湿度对ET0变化均具有较大贡献,其中相对湿度为I区、III区及IV区的主要气象驱动因子,其次为平均气温和风速;而II区ET0变化的主要驱动因子为风速,其平均贡献率WII(风速)为0.37;综上所述,中国粮食主产区主要气象因子变化特征与ET0的响应,均呈现出区域性、季节性差异。     

稻田土壤养分特性对不同耕作方式的生态响应

为深入了解耕作措施对稻田耕层土壤的作用效果,笔者在前人研究结果的基础上综述了免耕、翻耕等不同耕作方式对稻田土壤物理性质包括容重、孔隙度、团聚体、水分、温度,土壤化学性质如氮、磷、钾、有机质和微量元素含量以及土壤生物学特性包括微生物、酶活性的影响,分析了不同稻作措施的优缺点。最后对稻田耕层的合理调控提出因地制宜,依据当地的气候、土壤条件、栽培模式选择合理的耕作方式;合理轮耕,免耕、翻耕和旋耕交替运作;配施绿肥和有机肥;推行节水稻作模式等建议。     

浅谈生物技术专业物理化学教学改革的探索

作者根据生物技术专业培养目标,从教育创新的角度出发,对物理化学在生物技术专业中重要作用及基础地位进行了阐述,并通过对学科特点的深入理解,结合学校实际情况,从课程体系、教学内容及方法、科学评价体系、理论教学与生产实际相结合四个方面着手对物理化学课程的改革,重点探讨生物技术专业物理化学教学的改革方向,以及如何培养适应实际生...     

Using ecological indicators in the context of an ecosystem approach to fisheries for data-limited fisheries

The tenets of ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) now occupy centre stage in our efforts to maintain the sustainability of fisheries and rebuild marine ecosystems. The paper discusses how an EAF can be adopted for data limited fisheries and uses the northern South China Sea fishery as an example to demonstrate the selection and use of indicators for determining the states of the fishery and its relevant ecosystem to provide advice on management. Implementing EAF management requires indicators and models that address the impact of fishing across entire ecological communities and determine management actions to be taken to achieve the preset objectives according to decision rules. Data limited fisheries necessarily have limited resources for data collection and scientific studies and therefore could not support complex models. To overcome the data limitation and absence of modelling support, simple indicators have to be used to assess the current state and monitor changes of the fishery and its ecosystem. Such indicators should: (1) be observable and understandable by all stakeholders, (2) be based on easily obtainable and reliable data, (3) adequately reflect the condition of the resource, and (4) have associated reference values and responsive management measures. The paper also reviews the recent development and use of indicators and harvest strategies in both conventional and EAF management to better understand the differences and to shed light on the challenges of EAF, in particular for data limited fisheries.