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.     

钙和维生素D对生长肉鸡免疫及抗氧化功能的影响

本试验旨在研究日粮中钙(ca)和维生素D水平对生长肉鸡免疫及抗氧化功能的影响.采用2× 2完全随机试验设计,选用体重相近的4周龄爱拔益加(AA)肉鸡144只,随机分成4个处理,每个处理6个重复,每个重复6只鸡,分别饲喂含Ca 0.90%、1.15%和维生素D 750、5 000 IU/kg的试验日粮,试验期为4周.结果表明,1)维生素D对胸腺和脾脏指数作用显著(P<0.05),随维生素D添加量的增加免疫功能增强;与0.90%Ca组相比,1.15%Ca组町降低法氏囊指数(P<0.05)和血清免疫球蛋白含量(P>0.05);维生素D和Ca的互作显著影响脾脏指数和血清白介素-2(IL-2)(P<0.05),5 000 IU/kg维生素D+0.90%Ca组脾脏指数和IL-2较高;2)随维生素D添加量的增加,血清和肝脏总超氧化物歧化酶(T-SOD)活性、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)活性、总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)升高,丙二醛(MDA)含量降低;随Ca添加量的增加,生长肉鸡的抗氧化性能降低,且对机体肝脏T-SOD、GSH-Px、T-AOC影响显著(P<0.05);维生索D和Ca的互作对血清和肝脏T-SOD、GSH-Px、MDA影响显著(P<0.05),5 000 IU/kg维生素D+0.90%Ca组在抗氧化方面优势明显.综合分析,5 000 IU/kg维生素D+0.90%Ca组在抗氧化和免疫方面具有一定的优势.因此,实际生产中在满足生长肉鸡Ca基本需要量的同时,适当增加维生素D添加量对提高生长肉鸡免疫和抗氧化功能具有重要的作用.     

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.     

Evaluation of the colonization capabilities of Salmonella Enteritidis in Quails using an RT-PCR approach

We used a real-time PCR assay and indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assay to detect genomic DNA of Salmonella Enteritidis in the internal organs of quails after an oral challenge. The results showed that S. Enteritidis was detected in all the samples at different time points. This study will assist a future understanding of the pathogenesis of S. Enteritidis.     

南疆林果节水灌溉技术环境适宜性选择分析

基于南疆林果节水灌溉的需要,通过文献分析,对普通地表滴灌、地下滴灌及间接地下滴灌条件下水分、养分利用率、土壤环境效应等方面进行比较分析,选择适宜南疆林果的节水灌溉技术,旨在为南疆干旱地区林果业可持续发展提供理论支持。     

Effects of a Dual‐Frequency Frequency‐Sweeping Ultrasound Treatment on the Properties and Structure of the Zein Protein

We investigated the effects of a dual‐frequency frequency‐sweeping ultrasound (DFFSU) treatment on the functional properties and structure of zein. The solubility of ultrasound‐treated zein proteins increased slightly but significantly as the treatment time increased. The results showed that the DFFSU treatment had an obvious influence on the mean particle size and the size distribution. A significant (P < 0.05) increase in the size of the particles with respect to time was observed after a sonication time of more than 20 min in zein solutions. Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that sonication alters the thermal behavior of zein. Circular dichroism spectra showed a small increase in the percentage of ordered structure elements within the protein molecule. After 60 min of ultrasonication, the percentage of α‐helix structures increased by 0.9%, whereas the percentage of β‐sheets and β‐turns decreased by 0.5%. Microstructural analyses by scanning electron microscopy showed that several microholes appeared in the zein following ultrasonic pretreatment. Under the conditions investigated in this study, DFFSU treatment was found to affect the studied functional properties of the zein protein. This technology could be used to obtain improved functional properties in some protein samples.