Short-term effects of aglime on inorganic- and organic-derived CO2 emissions from two acid soils amended with an ammonium-based fertiliser

Purpose

Aglime application can promote carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from acid soils. However, the controlling mechanisms are still poorly understood, particularly the role of fertiliser-ammonium oxidation. This study therefore assessed the effects of aglime on soil inorganic C (SIC)– and soil organic C (SOC)–derived CO₂ emissions from acid soils amended with ammonium.

Materials and methods

Ammonium at three N rates [0% (A0), 0.005% (A1), and 0.2% (A2) w/w] and labelled aglime (Ca¹³CO_3,¹³C 5.94% aa) at three rates [0% (L1), 0.067% (L1), and 0.392% (L2) w/w] were applied to two contrasting acid soils (Nariva series, Mollic Fluvaquents; and Piarco series, Typic Kanhaplaquults) and incubated in 1-l media bottles for 23 days. A calcareous soil (Princes Town series, Aquentic Eutrudepts, carbonate δ¹³C of ??4.79‰) was included as a control that only received ammonium at the three rates.

Results and discussion

The application of ammonium at the A2 rate significantly (p?<?0.05) increased cumulative SIC-CO₂ emissions by 15.8 and 27.1% in comparison to the A0 rate for the Nariva and Piarco soils, respectively, when they were limed at the L2 rate. The lower rate of ammonium (A1), however, had no effect on these emissions, which suggests that enough acidity may not have been generated at this rate to significantly enhance the release of SIC-CO₂. Furthermore, no effect of ammonium rates was observed on SIC-CO₂ emissions from the calcareous soil, which refutes the hypothesis that this amendment plays a greater role in regulating these emissions from calcareous soils compared with acid soils. Also, in contradiction to another hypothesis, the aglime-induced priming effect on SOC decomposition was more apparent in the low-C Piarco soil. This effect was also significantly (p?<?0.05) greater at the L2 rate (above the lime requirement for Piarco), which demonstrates the negative impact that over-liming could have on the sequestration of C in this soil. Our results also showed that ammonium addition may also help to reduce the magnitude of the aglime-induced priming effect in the Piarco soil when it is not over-limed.

Conclusions

Overall, the findings of this study suggest that ammonium fertiliser broadcast at conventional rates may not serve as a significant regulator of SIC-CO₂ emissions from highly to moderately acidic soils amended with aglime. Our findings also indicate a need to consider nitrogen management as an important factor regulating the effects of aglime on SOC-CO₂ emissions.

     

基于随机森林算法和气象因子的砀山酥梨始花期预报

准确预报始花期是制定砀山酥梨花期管理措施和赏花活动方案的重要基础。该文利用1983-2018年砀山酥梨始花期的定位观测物候数据和平行观测的气象资料,采用线性趋势法,揭示始花期演变趋势;采用相关分析,筛选影响始花期的关键气象因子,依据不同预报日期构成特征变量集;采用随机森林算法（Random Forest, RF）,自3月11日开始预报到3月25日终止预报,每日训练1个预报模型。结果表明,1）1983－2018年始花期呈极显著提早发生趋势,每10a约提前2.750 d（P＜0.001）。2）16个逐日气象预报模型中,共计有200个气象因子与始花期早迟密切相关,相关系数在0.469～0.789之间;各气象预报模型的训练集与测试集的平均正确率（Nd）分别为92.9%和75.5%、平均均方根误差（RMSE）分别为1.693～2.870和2.240～7.237、平均决定系数（R2）分别为0.891和0.701。3）2019年试验预报中,提前15日准确预报出当年始花期。该文研究表明RF在梨树始花期逐日气象预报中有一定业务应用潜力,预报准确率基本满足气象服务需求。     

Equine metacarpophalangeal joint surface contact changes during walk, trot and gallop

Changes in the staining pattern for the metacarpophalangealjoint in the walking, trotting and galloping positions were studied. For this purpose, horse limbs from the third metacarpal bone distally were harvested and placed in the mid-stance position on a hydraulic press that applied the load required to obtain the palmar fetlock angles corresponding to the walking (218 degrees), trotting (226 degrees) and galloping positions (240 degrees), and a 1:1000 diluted aqueous dilution of methylene blue was injected into the fetlock joint.Based on the results, increasing the palmar fetlockangle in the anatomical specimen caused the contact zones of the proximal phalanx and the proximal sesamoidean bones with the third metacarpal bone joint surface to shift dorsally, thereby increasing the contact surface area between the involved bones.In the galloping position, the proximal phalanx wasfound to extend beyond the dorsal boundary of the third metacarpal bone joint surface and its basal portion to depart from the metacarpus in such a way that the distal sesamoidean ligaments forced the basilar zone of the proximal sesamoidean bones to separate.These phenomena may obviously assist in explaining the intricate biomechanics of the joint as well as its associated pathologies.     

Presence of Cocaine in the Tissues of the European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, Exposed to Environmental Cocaine Concentrations

The presence of illicit drugs and their metabolites in surface waters has to be considered a new type of hazard, still unknown, for the aquatic ecosystem, due to the potent pharmacological activities of all the illicit drugs. Our research was therefore aimed at evaluating the impact of illicit drugs on the aquatic fauna, till now still undervalued. To this aim, we verified the ability of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a well-known biomonitor of environmental contamination, to bioaccumulate cocaine, one of the most abundant illicit drugs found in surface waters. Silver eels were exposed to a nominal cocaine concentration of 20?ng/l for 1?month; at the same time, control, carrier, and post-exposure recovery groups were made. Brains, gills, liver, kidney, muscle, gonads, spleen, digestive tract, and sections of dorsal skin were assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Cocaine was found in the tissues of the treated eels and, at low concentrations, in almost all tissues of post-exposure recovery eels. These results indicate that cocaine is able to accumulate into the eel tissues; its presence suggests potential risks for eels since cocaine could affect their physiology and contribute to their decline, and for humans consuming contaminated fish.     

Simulation of soil types in Teramo province (Central Italy) with terrain parameters and remote sensing data

Soil surveys are an essential source of information for land management although a limited budget often reduces the amount of data available. Even if the dataset is limited, geostatistics can provide a valid estimation tool through a weighted moving average interpolation (kriging). Often, however, the spatial variability of soil properties appears smoothed and short range variability is underestimated by this kind of interpolation technique. A more realistic distribution of a given variable on the territory can be obtained through models based on stochastic simulation.     

15N-甘氨酸单剂量终产物法研究妊娠和非妊娠母猪整体蛋白质周转代谢

采用15N-甘氨酸单剂量终产物法研究了妊娠和非妊娠母猪在不同阶段整体蛋白质代谢的周转速率以及氨基酸利用效率的差异。结果表明:刚配种时,妊娠母猪与非妊娠母猪蛋白质代谢参数差异不显著(P>0.05);妊娠30d时,妊娠母猪蛋白质合成速率,降解速率、周转速率显著低于非妊娠母猪(P<0.05),但沉积速率提高了25%(P<0.05);妊娠后期,妊娠母猪氨基酸代谢库氮流量、周转速率以及蛋白质合成速率和降解速率显著(P<0.01)提高,蛋白质的沉积速率增加了71.1%(P<0.01)。     

Volatile chemical cues guide host location and host selection by parasitic plants

The importance of plant volatiles in mediating interactions between plant species is much debated. Here, we demonstrate that the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona (dodder) uses volatile cues for host location. Cuscuta pentagona seedlings exhibit directed growth toward nearby tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) and toward extracted tomato-plant volatiles presented in the absence of other cues. Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana) and wheat plants (Triticum aestivum) also elicit directed growth. Moreover, seedlings can distinguish tomato and wheat volatiles and preferentially grow toward the former. Several individual compounds from tomato and wheat elicit directed growth by C. pentagona, whereas one compound from wheat is repellent. These findings provide compelling evidence that volatiles mediate important ecological interactions among plant species.     

基于虚拟仪器的湿增压实验台测控系统研究

本文以湿增压动力装置实验台为物理模型，为进行相关实验完成了速度、流量、扭矩等重要参数的测量，并以N16221硬件为基础，基于虚拟仪器平台LabVIEW研制了实验台的测试软件。新设计的测试系统是基于虚拟仪器平台的模块化系统，使得研究人员的大部分精力集中于所要实现的功能上，而不是以往繁琐的算法和重复的编程上，参数易于修改，缩短了系统开发的周期，能满足实验需求。     

Artificial neural network models of the rumen fermentation pattern in dairy cattle

The objectives of this study were: (1) to predict the rumen fermentation pattern from milk fatty acids using a machine learning technique, i.e. artificial neural networks (ANN) combined with feature selection and (2) to compare the prediction accuracy of the resulting model to that of a statistical multi-linear regression model, based on odd and branched chain milk fatty acids. Data were collected from 10 experiments with rumen fistulated dairy cows, resulting in a dataset of 138 observations. Feature selection was based on correlation and principal component analysis, and background physiological knowledge. Different ANN architectures and training algorithms were assessed. The evaluation of the model performance, based on the test dataset, showed a root mean square prediction error, expressed relative to the observed mean, of 2.65%, 7.67% and 7.61% of the observed mean for acetate, propionate and butyrate, respectively. Compared to a multi-linear regression model, the ANN revealed not to perform significantly better. However, the results confirm that milk fatty acids have great potential to predict molar proportions of individual volatile fatty acids in the rumen.     

虾青素纳米粒的制备及性能研究

为提高虾青素的稳定性,采用超声的方法将卵磷脂和壳聚糖在水相溶液中自聚集形成散性的纳米粒。对影响纳米粒的制备与性质的因素进行分析,发现在卵磷脂/壳聚糖比例为5∶1到20∶1(w/w)条件下,超声15 min可形成稳定的纳米包载体系。粒径范围在137.51~139.46 nm之间且带有正电荷,粒径分布均匀。在电镜下观察为不规则的球状。制备得到虾青素纳米粒的包封率和包载量为51.02%和10.34%。虾青素纳米载体在pH 1.2、pH 6.8和pH 7.4的条件下,72h内释放约66.97%、30.34%和28.19%,具有较好的控制缓慢释放的作用。可见,壳聚糖/卵磷脂纳米载体是理想的虾青素功能食品载体。