Irrigation and food security in the 21st century

Global food projections indicate that food prices in the next threedecades will likely be stable or decline, but progress inreducing malnutrition in developing countries will be slow. Smallshortfalls in crop productivity growth would lead to rising foodprices and worsening malnutrition. Increased food production fromirrigation is essential, and will require expansion of irrigatedarea and water supplies, and improved efficiency of use of existingwater supplies. Neither of these growth factors will prove easy, andboth will require complex institutional and policy reforms. Failureto meet food production needs through efficient expansion andintensification of irrigated agriculture would increase pressure onland resources and hasten the process of environmental degradation.Irrigation and water development strategies have been hampered bya lack of understanding of the links between water scarcity, foodproduction, food security, and environmental sustainability.Research to improve this understanding would have high payoffs.     

Drivers of recent forest cover change in southern South America are linked to climate and CO2

Landscape Ecology - Widespread changes in forest structure and distribution have been documented in northern Patagonia over the past century. We employed LPJ-GUESS, a dynamic global...     

Impact of Honey Bee Migratory Management on Pathogen Loads and Immune Gene Expression is Affected by Complex Interactions With Environment,Worker Life History,and Season

The effects of honey bee management, such as intensive migratory beekeeping, are part of the ongoing debate concerning causes of colony health problems. Even though comparisons of disease and pathogen loads among differently managed colonies indicate some effects, the direct impact of migratory practices on honey bee pathogens is poorly understood. To test long- and short-term impacts of managed migration on pathogen loads and immunity, experimental honey bee colonies were maintained with or without migratory movement. Individuals that experienced migration as juveniles (e.g., larval and pupal development), as adults, or both were compared to control colonies that remained stationary and therefore did not experience migratory relocation. Samples at different ages and life-history stages (hive bees or foragers), taken at the beginning and end of the active season, were analyzed for pathogen loads and physiological markers of health. Bees exposed to migratory management during adulthood had increased levels of the AKI virus complex (Acute bee paralysis, Kashmir bee, and Israeli acute bee paralysis viruses) and decreased levels of antiviral gene expression (dicer-like). However, those in stationary management as adults had elevated gut parasites (i.e. trypanosomes). Effects of environment during juvenile development were more complex and interacted with life-history stage and season. Age at collection, life-history stage, and season all influenced numerous factors from viral load to immune gene expression. Although the factors that we examined are not independent, the results illuminate potential factors in both migratory and nonmigratory beekeeping that are likely to contribute to colony stress, and also indicate potential mitigation measures.     

Comparison of Chemical Composition and Biological Properties of Essential Oils Obtained by Hydrodistillation and Steam Distillation of Laurus nobilis L.

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - The purpose of this study was to compare the yield, chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of essential oils isolated from leaves of Laurus...     

Evaluating methods for identifying large mammal road crossing locations: black bears as a case study

Landscape Ecology - Roads have several negative effects on large mammals including restricting movements, isolating populations, and mortality due to vehicle collisions. Where large mammals...     

A deep-level region-based visual representation architecture for detecting strawberry flowers in an outdoor field

Precision Agriculture - An accurate and robust strawberry flower representation and detection scheme is a key step to enable the reliable forecasting of fruit yield for use in precision...     

Buyer beware! Disease testing newly arrived cattle to dairy farms in Ontario

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the presence of infectious disease in newly arrived cattle on dairy farms in Ontario. Cattle that were more than 2 years old and arrived at dairy farms within the previous year were tested. A total 321 cattle from 56 dairy farms were sampled and had blood submitted to a diagnostic laboratory. Of all sampled cattle, 0.0%, 39.6%, 2.2%, and 1.3% tested positive for Anaplasma, bovine leukemia virus, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, and Salmonella Dublin, respectively. Based on these results, it is imperative that dairy producers are vigilant to ensure they do not purchase animals with these important and untreatable infectious diseases.     

Saccharobisindole,Neoasterric Methyl Ester,and 7-Chloro-4(1H)-quinolone: Three New Compounds Isolated from the Marine Bacterium Saccharomonospora sp.

Analysis of the chemical components from the culture broth of the marine bacterium Saccharomonospora sp. CNQ-490 has yielded three novel compounds: saccharobisindole (1), neoasterric methyl ester (2), and 7-chloro-4(1H)-quinolone (3), in addition to acremonidine E (4), pinselin (5), penicitrinon A (6), and penicitrinon E (7). The chemical structures of the three novel compounds were elucidated by the interpretation of 1D, 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) data. Compound 2 generated weak inhibition activity against Bacillus subtilis KCTC2441 and Staphylococcus aureus KCTC1927 at concentrations of 32 μg/mL and 64 μg/mL, respectively, whereas compounds 1 and 3 did not have any observable effects. In addition, compound 2 displayed weak anti-quorum sensing (QS) effects against S. aureus KCTC1927 and Micrococcus luteus SCO560.     

High yield and rapid growth of Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis in co-culture with a rainbow trout gill-derived cell line RTgill-W1

Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis is an ubiquitous amphizoic marine protozoan and has been implicated as the causative agent for several diseases in marine organisms, most notably amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic salmon. Despite several reports on the pathology of AGD, relatively little is known about the protozoan and its relationship to host cells. In this study, an in vitro approach using monolayers of a rainbow trout gill cell line (RTgill-W1, ATCC CRL-2523) was used to rapidly grow large numbers of N. pemaquidensis (ATCC 50172) and investigate cell-pathogen interactions. Established cell lines derived from other tissues of rainbow trout and other fish species were also evaluated for amoeba growth support. The amoebae showed preference and highest yield when grown with RTgill-W1 over nine other tested fish cell lines. Amoeba yields could reach as high as 5 x 10(5) cells mL(-1) within 3 days of growth on the gill cell monolayers. The amoebae caused visible focal lesions in RTgill-W1 monolayers within 24 h of exposure and rapidly proliferated and spread with cytopathic effects destroying the neighbouring pavement-like cells within 48-72 h after initial exposure in media above 700 mOsm kg(-1). Disruption of the integrity of the gill cell monolayers could be noted within 30 min of exposure to the amoeba suspensions by changes in transepithelial resistance (TER) compared with control cell monolayers maintained in the exposure media. This was significantly different by 2 h (P < 0.05) compared with control cells and remained significantly different (P < 0.01) for the remaining 72 h that the TER was monitored. The RTgill-W1 cell line is thus a convenient model for growing N. pemaquidensis and for studying host-pathogen interactions in AGD.     

Validation of Xanthophyll Levels in Catfish Fillets Using Digital Photography

Catfish fillets with yellow coloration have become a prevalent problem for the catfish industry. This problem is due to the unacceptability in the market because the shift in fillet color is considered of lower quality by the consumers. To help the catfish industry better understand the yellow coloration of catfish fillet, a digital photography measurement method was developed to evaluate the yellowness. Sixty catfish fillets with a range of degrees of visible yellowness were taken directly from the processing line. The fillets were photographed in a light box with a digital camera. The photos were calibrated with the X-Rite ColorChecker standardized color target. CIELAB readings of the fillet photos were recorded, and the b* value was used to indicate the yellowness of catfish fillets. The xanthophyll levels of fillets were analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography. The actual xanthophyll level in catfish fillet was calculated as the sum of lutein, zeaxanthin, and alloxanthin. A linear correlation was found between the LAB b* values and xanthophyll levels of the 60 catfish fillets.