Hyperspectral species mapping for automatic weed control in tomato under thermal environmental stress

This work studied the impacts of variations in environmental temperature on hyperspectral imaging features in the visible and near infrared regions for robust species identification for weed mapping in tomato production. Six major Californian processing tomato cultivars, black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) were grown under a variety of diurnal temperature ranges simulating conditions common in the Californian springtime planting period and one additional treatment simulating greenhouse growing conditions. The principal change in canopy reflectance with varying temperature occurred in the 480-670 and 720-810 nm regions. The overall classification rate ranged from 62.5% to 91.6% when classifiers trained under single temperatures were applied to plants grown at different temperatures. Eliminating the 480-670 nm region from the classifier’s feature set mitigated the temperature effect by stabilizing the total crop vs. weed classification rate at 86.4% over the temperature ranges. A site-specific recalibration method was also successful in alleviating the bias created by calibrating the models on the extreme temperatures and increased the classification accuracy to 90.3%. A global calibration method, incorporating all four temperature conditions in the classifier feature space, provided the best average total classification accuracy of 92.2% out of the methods studied, and was fairly robust to the varying diurnal temperature conditions.     

Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary in Deep-Sea Sediments: Extinctions and evolutionary changes in microfossils clearly define the abrupt onset of the Pleistocene

For a hundred years students of the Pleistocene have looked for evidence of the climatic change which initiated the Pleistocene epoch. Glacial deposits on the continents have been of little help because of their discontinuity and because of the destructive effect of later glaciations. Hence, Pleistocene geologists have turned to the uplifted Pliocene-Pleistocene marine sediments of the Mediterranean region. In the absence of evidence of a single, clearly defined climatic change in this sedimentary section, they have agreed to define the beginning of the Pleistocene by the first appearance of Anomalina baltica, a species of benthic Foraminifera tolerant of cool water. This definition leaves much to be desired: It rests on a single benthic species whose areal distribution must have been partly determined by local conditions on the sea floor; it is useless outside of the Mediterranean region; and there is no convincing evidence that the first appearance of Anomalina baltica in the Mediterranean coincided with the onset of the first glaciation.     

Ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy. Cyclotron double resonance provides a new technique for the study of ion-molecule reaction mechanisms

Ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy yields information on many aspects of ion-molecule chemistry. The method is ideally suited for experiments involving ion energies below several electron volts, and hence provides a valuable complement to other techniques (27). eyclotron double resonance is uniquely suitable for establishing relationships between reactant ions and their product ions in complex ion-molecule reaction sequences. The double-resonance experiments with isotopic species yield information on reaction mechanisms and the nature of intermediate species. Ion-molecule reactions which occur at low energies are quite sensitive to the nature of functional groups and the details of molecular structure (28). Reactions of ions or neutral molecules with specific reagents in the cyclotron spectrometer can thus be used to characterize unknown species. Once the systematic ion-molecule chemistry of useful reagents has been worked out, it should be possible to proceed in a manner directly analogous to classical chemical methods. Suppose, for example, that reagents A(+), B(+), C(+), and D(+) each have characteristic reactions with different functional groups. Then these reagents can all be mixed with an unknown neutral species, X, and each of the reactions, X + A(+) --> ?, X + B(+) --> ?, . . . . can be examined. In contrast to solution chemistry, all the reagents can be added simultaneously to the unknown, since each of the specific reactions can be examined by cyclotron double resonance. The reactions which occur, the species synthesized , and the products of degradation then characterize X. The same methodology can be applied to characterize an unknown ionic epecies X(+), through use of neutral reagents A, B, C, and D. For example, proton transfer reactions to neuteal species have been applied in studying ions of mass 45 produced from various sources (29). The order of the proton affinities of the neutral reagent molecules are as follows: NH(3) isobutylene propene. Ions of mass 45 can be produced by the protonation of ethylene oxide (see structure III), the protonation of acetaldehyde (see structure IV), and the fragmentation of dimethyl ether (see structure V). Those ions might be expected to have, respectively, the three structures: Proton transfer from the mass-45 ions from sources III and IV to NH(3) and to isobutylene occurs readily, but not proton transfer to propene. For the ion from source V, proton transfer to NH3 occurs, but not proton transfer to isobutylene or propene. Thus the proton transfer reactions to various neutral reagents demonstrate that the mass-45 ions from the various sources are different. This example is only a rudimentary version of an approach to the characterization of unusual ionic species; niore sophisticated applications can follow when the systematic chemistry of more reagents is available. This approach should be ideal for comparing nonclassical carbonium ions produced by different routes. Some very interesting ionic species are produced by rearrangements in the fragmentation of molecules, following electron impact. Such molecular rearrangements frequently result in the fragmentation of an ion radical to another ion radical with the elimination of a small neutral species (30). It should be possible to run these reactions in reverse to check the postulated mechanisms. An interesting result of the systematic study of proton transfer to various functional groups is the finding that the proton affinity of various amines and pyridine is extremely high (31). Species such as VI and VII: might be expected to be very stable; they are in fact so stable that they are unreactive with respect to subsequent chemistry at the charge center. Thus, if there are other functional groups on the ion, the important reactions should occur at these functional groups. It should be possible to design species for which the presence of the charge has little influence on the reactivity of a neutral functional group. In this case the charge functions simply as an inert label which makes the study of neutral-neutral reactions accessible by cyclotron resonance: Various routes for development of the basic technique also appear to be very promising. Echo phenomena following sequences of pulsed excitation have been observed in electron cyclotron resonance (32). Analogous transient phenomena should also occur in ion cvclotron resonances (33). Pulsed-cyclotron-resonance techniques of course have intriguing analogies to nuclear-magnetic-resonance spin-echo experiments (34) and may be the technique of choice for making accurate measurements of ion-molecule-reaction cross sections as a function of energy for low ion energies. Finally, many ion-molecule reactions yield products in excited electronic states (35). For example, the reaction N(2)- + CO --> N(2) + CO- (46) has been studied by beam techniques (36). A straightforward procedure is to observe optical emission from the cyclotron spectrometer by placing a window at the end of the cyclotron cell (37). The emission can be analyzed with a crude set of optical filters, or with a high-speed spectrograph. Optical emission from the cyclotron cell can of course originate from many sources. The radiation from a specific excited product ion can be selected by a radio-frequency-optical double-resonance experiment. If, in the generai reaction A+ + B --> *C+ + D, (47) ion A+ is irradiated at its cyclotron resonance frequency, the number density of optical emitters *C+ is changed. If the irradiating frequency is modulated, then the number of optical emitters will be modulated, so that the intensity of emission from *C+ will also be modulated. When the optical emission from *C+ is analyzed in a spectrograph with a photoelectric cell, the output of the photoelectric cell can be detected with a phase sensitive detector referenced to the modulation frequency. This highly specific modulation-detection scheme should discriminate against other sources of light in the cyclotron cell.     

Study of electrization of powder skim milk during milk particle movement

Electrization of particles of powder materials is a widely spread phenomenon that makes a practical impact on the functional efficiency of equipment designed for producing a broad range of processed disperse products (dry milk, flour, grain, etc.). The results of electrization tests of powder skim milk particles are presented. A mathematical model of inner and outer transfer of electric charge for a single powder skim milk particle is suggested. The studies on a specialized laboratory unit have made it possible to obtain data on triboelectric charging of particles in different testing conditions.     

哺乳母猪的颗粒日粮

共采用76头母猪(1～4 胎)进行试验,来确定颗粒日粮对母猪及其仔猪生产性能的影响.在21 d的哺乳试验中,母猪喂粉状(玉米磨碎至粒度500～600 μm)或颗粒(直径0.48 cm)形式的玉米-豆粕基础日粮.结果,日粮形状不会影响酸性洗涤纤维摄取量(ADFI)或哺乳期失重(P≥0.15).同时,每窝猪的断奶仔猪头数、仔猪存活率、每窝仔猪增重,断奶至发情的天数不受处理的影响(P≥0.15).然而,喂颗粒饲料的母猪失去较少的背膘(0.13 cm,P＜0.02).同时,喂颗粒饲料的母猪,其干物质(DM)、氮(N)和总能(GE)消化率分别提高6%、9%和9%,而每天排出的DM和N分别减少90 g和2 g(P＜0.001).总之,在不分胎次母猪中,使用颗粒饲料不仅不会影响其仔猪的生产性能,而且可提高母猪的养分消化率、减少养分的排出.     

Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Lipoxygenase Gene cDNA from Cucumber Fruit （Cucumis sativus L.）

Lipoxygenases are nonheme-iron-containing dioxygenases that catalyze the hydroperoxidation of unsatrated fatty acids containing a cis, cis-1,4-pentadiene structure producing hydroperoxy acids with conjugated dienes. LOX activity has been found in a wide range of plants. Typical substrates for LOX in plants are linoleic acid and linilenic acid fatty acids. The function of various LOXs in plants is unknown, but their participation in all stages of plant growth and development has been suggested （Hildebrand, 1989; Siedow, 1991）. Some of the physiological processes in whicn lipoxygenses have been implicated include wounding （Saravitz and Siedow, 1996）, pathogen attack （Melan et al., 1993）, seed germination （Kato et al., 1992）, fruit ripening （Ferrie et al., 1994）, plant senescence （Paliyath and Droillard, 1992）. The study on the role of lipoxygenase in ripening and senescence fruit focused on tomato and strawberry. Cloning LOX gene of cucumber fruit will make us further understand the molecularaction mode of this enzyme during fxuit ripening and senescence. In this paper we isolated the partial nucleotide sequences of cucumber fiuit lipoxygenase gene and discuss the characterization of it.     

Gene Discovery and Characterization from Non-sequenced Medicinal Plants

Plant-derived secondary metabolites still constitute important resources for currently prescribed drugs and for the discovery of active principles which are effective in new indication areas. Promising compounds are often exclusively found in wild medicinal plants and the classical plant-based pharmaceutical production approach has been hampered by low yields, lack of reproducibility and the high complexity of plant extracts （Rischer and Oksman-Caldentey, 2005）. Influencing the accumulation of target compounds by breeding or genetic engineering is greatly impeded because in most cases the general biosynthetic routes are incompletely understood.     

Haemodynamic changes during sedation in ponies

The cardiovascular changes induced by several sedatives were investigated in five ponies with a subcutaneously transposed carotid artery by means of cardiac output determinations (thermodilution technique), systemic and pulmonary artery pressure measurements (direct intravascular method) and arterial blood analysis (blood gases and packed cell volume). The cardiovascular depression (decrease in systemic blood pressure and cardiac output) was long lasting (greater than 90 min) after administration of propionylpromazine (0.08 mg/kg intravenous (i.v.)) together with promethazine (0.08 mg/kg i.v.). The phenothiazine-induced sedation was not optimal. alpha 2-Agonists (xylazine (0.60 mg/kg i.v.) and detomidine (20 micrograms/kg i.v.)) induced initial but transient cardiovascular effects with an increase in systemic blood pressure and a decrease in cardiac output for about 15 min. Second degree atrioventricular blocks and bradycardia were seen during this period. The cardiovascular depression was more pronounced during detomidine sedation. Atropine (0.01 mg/kg i.v.) induced a tachycardia with a decrease in stroke volume but did not alter the cardiac output or other cardiovascular parameters. It prevented the occurrence of the bradycardia and heart blocks normally induced by xylazine or detomidine. Atropine potentiated the initial hypertension induced by the alpha 2-agonistic sedatives (especially detomidine). The decrease in cardiac output induced by xylazine, and to a lesser extent by detomidine, was partially counteracted when atropine was given in advance. The atropine-xylazine combination seemed the best premedication protocol before general anaesthesia as it only resulted in minor and transient cardiovascular changes.     

Efficacy of ceftiofur hydrochloride for treatment of experimentally induced colibacillosis in neonatal swine

Ceftiofur hydrochloride was tested for effectiveness against induced colibacillosis in neonatal swine. In this model, pigs less than 12 hours old were inoculated via stomach tube with a virulent, K99+, nalidixic acid-resistant strain of Escherichia coli. Six hours after challenge exposure, 1 dose of ceftiofur was administered either IM or orally in experiment 1 and orally only in experiment 2. Mortality, shedding of bacteria, fecal consistency scores, and body weight changes were monitored for 10 days. In experiment 1 (n = 383 pigs), all treatments at dosage that ranged between 0.5 and 64.0 mg of ceftiofur/kg of body weight significantly (P less than 0.001) reduced mortality, bacterial shedding, and diarrhea and increased weight gain, compared with findings in untreated controls. There were no detectable differences between oral and IM routes, except that there was greater reduction in bacteria shedding associated with the oral route of administration. In experiment 2 (n = 505 pigs), ceftiofur was administered orally either once at 6 hours after challenge exposure or twice at 6 and at 48 hours after the first dose. Dosage of ceftiofur was 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, or 60 mg/kg administered once, or half the same dose was administered at each of 2 times. At the optimal dosage (10 mg/kg), a single dose was as effective as 2 doses. The single administration at all dosages reduced mortality, bacterial shedding, and diarrhea scores and increased body weight gain, compared with findings in untreated pigs (P less than 0.01). In this induced infection model, the optimal treatment dosage was determined to be 10 mg/kg administered once.