Effects of supplementary feeding in carp ponds on discharge water quality: a review

Discharge of aquacultural wastewater can lead to eutrophication and disruption of natural ecosystems in receiving water bodies. A controlled waste production strategy is necessary, therefore, in order to maintain sustainable aquacultural growth. Along with fertilisation, supplementary feeding is the major source of allochthonous matter in aquaculture and management of aquacultural waste, therefore, should be approached through diet formulation and/or feeding strategy. The introduction of highly digestible feed has reduced solid waste excretion, and further reductions can be achieved through careful selection of ingredients and processing to improve nutrient availability. Dissolved nitrogen waste can be reduced by ensuring a balance between protein and energy, such that fish use non-protein sources as energy, while phosphorous waste can be reduced through careful ingredient selection and processing to improve digestibility. Thermal and mechanical treatment of feed cereals prior to application can also help decrease the amount of poorly or undigested feed. Finally, feeding practices that minimise wastage should also be explored as they have a significant impact, not only on waste output but also on the overall economy of carp pond farming.     

The fate of cadmium in field soils of the Danubian lowland

The susceptibility of soils to deep penetration of cadmium was assessed by measuring cadmium adsorption on soil particles <0.01 mm, easily mobile in soil macropores, and bypassing ratio. The latter is defined as a ratio of the rate of macropore flow to the rate of total (macropore and matrix) flow. Measurements were made on soils from the Danubian lowland, which is a large (1260 km²) agriculturally managed area situated in the south-west of Slovakia, with a shallow (0.5–3.8 m deep) underlying aquifer containing about 10 km³ of freshwater. In this study, the susceptibility of soils to deep penetration of cadmium was assessed on light, loamy-sand soil in Kalinkovo, medium heavy, loamy soil in Macov, and heavy, clay soil in Jurova. It was found that when the interaction between soil and cadmium lasted 1 min, more than 35, 32, and 48% of cadmium was adsorbed on the particles <0.01 mm in soils from Kalinkovo, Macov, and Jurova, respectively. In the case of ponding infiltration, more than 50% of water can flow via topsoil macropores in Kalinkovo, about 70% in Macov, and 96% in Jurova. This value of bypassing ratio can be met during an irrigation/rain with higher intensity then the infiltration rate into the soil matrix of studied soils. As the rains resulting in the macropore flow can occur 24 times on average in south-western Slovakia during the vegetation season, the probability of deep penetration of cadmium is very high, mainly during an initial stage of rainfall. For this reason, some mitigative agricultural practices (e.g. subsurface fertilizer banding or shallow ploughing) should be used in this region to prevent soils from the deep penetration of cadmium.     

Soil-geographical regionalization as a basis for digital soil mapping: Karelia case study

Recent development of digital soil mapping (DSM) allowed improving significantly the quality of soil maps. We tried to make a set of empirical models for the territory of Karelia, a republic at the North-East of the European territory of Russian Federation. This territory was selected for the pilot study for DSM for two reasons. First, the soils of the region are mainly monogenetic; thus, the effect of paleogeographic environment on recent soils is reduced. Second, the territory was poorly mapped because of low agricultural development: only 1.8% of the total area of the republic is used for agriculture and has large-scale soil maps. The rest of the territory has only small-scale soil maps, compiled basing on the general geographic concepts rather than on field surveys. Thus, the only solution for soil inventory was the predictive digital mapping. The absence of large-scaled soil maps did not allow data mining from previous soil surveys, and only empirical models could be applied. For regionalization purposes, we accepted the division into Northern and Southern Karelia, proposed in the general scheme of soil regionalization of Russia; boundaries between the regions were somewhat modified. Within each region, we specified from 15 (Northern Karelia) to 32 (Southern Karelia) individual soilscapes and proposed soil-topographic and soil-lithological relationships for every soilscape. Further field verification is needed to adjust the models.     

Marsh soils of the Karelian shore of the White Sea

This paper studies marsh soils on the Karelian shore of the White Sea. The soil cover has been found to differ on shores of the open, closed, and transitional types. The open shores have mainly marsh primitive and soddy soils. In bays, there are marsh soddy gley and dredged peat gley soils, and the transitional shores have marsh peaty soils. All soils have poorly developed profiles, and their reaction is close to neutral. Organic and organic-mineral layers form depending on the position of a soil above sea level: a sod layer forms in uplands, and peaty and mud layers form in depressions, which are regularly flooded and have a high groundwater level.     

Detecting the non-breeding region and migration route of Whimbrels(Numenius phaeopus rogachevae)in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway

Determining the migration routes and connections of migratory birds at the population level helps clarify intraspecific differences in migration.Five subspecies...     

Chalcone synthase expression and pigments deposition in wheat with purple and blue colored caryopsis

Red and white caryopses are typical in common wheat. Genotypes with purple and blue caryopses are also described. This coloring is caused by anthocyanins which deposit in the pericarp (purple) or aleurone layer (blue). The anthocyanins biosynthetic pathway is well described. The key enzyme is chalcone synthase (CHS). It catalyzes the first step. We observed the deposition of anthocyanins in the pericarp and aleurone layer, the expression of a chalcone synthase gene and the amount of two anthocyanins - cyanidin-3-glycoside (pericarp of purple caryopses), and delphinidin-3-glycoside (aleurone layer of blue caryopses) during caryopsis development. Purple pigment deposition was not homogeneous and/or uniform. At first, small isolated spots of purple color were formed and thereafter they expanded. In blue caryopses, however, the coloring process was more homogeneous. The expression of chalcone synthase mRNA occurred five days before pigment deposition and finished earlier than expected. Amounts of cyanidin-3-glycoside and delphinidin-3-glycoside increased in a similar manner. Amounts of these fell at the end of caryopses development probably due to formation of more complex substances.     

Free radical scavenging activity of different extracts and some constituents from the leaves of Ligustrum vulgare and L. delavayanum

The free radical scavenging activity of the water infusions, different organic solvent extracts and some constituents from Ligustrum vulgare and Ligustrum delavayanum leaves was assessed with the aid of DPPH radical. Among the samples screened, water infusions had the strongest free radical scavenging capacity. From the tested compounds scavenging active flavonoid aglycones are present in the most active chloroform fractions from both leaves samples.     

Insect pest management agents: hormonogen esters (juvenogens)

The chemical part of this investigation focused on designing structures and synthesizing a series of six new esters (juvenogens), derived from biologically active insect juvenile hormone bioanalogues (juvenoids, JHAs) and unsaturated short-chain linear and branched fatty acids for possible application as biochemically targeted insect hormonogen agents. The structures of the new compounds were assigned on the basis of a detailed NMR analysis of their (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra. The biological part of this investigation focused on introductory biological screening tests with these compounds against the red firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus), termites (Reticulitermes santonensis and Prorhinotermes simplex), and the blowfly (Neobellieria bullata). The biological activity of the juvenogens was studied in relation to the fatty acid functionality in the structures. Notable biological activity in topical tests and medium activity in peroral tests was found for the juvenogens 3 and 7 with P. apterus. The compounds 6 and 8 showed the lowest activity in both topical and oral assays with P. apterus. Considerable effect of all tested juvenogens was observed in P. simplex; however, the juvenogens 5 and 6 (derivatives of the only branched short-chain fatty acid) showed no activity against R. santonensis. The effect of the compounds 3-8 on larval hatching of N. bullata was only moderate (larval hatching 80-90%); however, the proliferation effect caused by 5, 6, and 8 is more pronounced than the effect caused by 3, 4, and 7.     

2.8 million years of Arctic climate change from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia

The reliability of Arctic climate predictions is currently hampered by insufficient knowledge of natural climate variability in the past. A sediment core from Lake El'gygytgyn in northeastern (NE) Russia provides a continuous, high-resolution record from the Arctic, spanning the past 2.8 million years. This core reveals numerous "super interglacials" during the Quaternary; for marine benthic isotope stages (MIS) 11c and 31, maximum summer temperatures and annual precipitation values are ~4° to 5°C and ~300 millimeters higher than those of MIS 1 and 5e. Climate simulations show that these extreme warm conditions are difficult to explain with greenhouse gas and astronomical forcing alone, implying the importance of amplifying feedbacks and far field influences. The timing of Arctic warming relative to West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreats implies strong interhemispheric climate connectivity.