Growth and phenology variation in progeny of Scots pine seed orchards and commercial seed stands

Tree improvement in Poland has been most advanced for Scots pine, but existing seed orchards have not been progeny-tested yet. We examined variation in growth traits—tree height at ages 4 and 8 years, and diameter at age 13 years—in the common garden experiment testing open-pollinated progenies of 31 seed orchards and 5 commercial seed stands (referred to as populations) at 5 locations. We also examined bud burst phenology at two to five sites at three growing seasons. At one experimental site during the 5th growing season, we measured shoot growth rhythm on all populations. Similar measurements of shoot growth were done on a subset of populations during the 6th growing season together with the analysis of needle growth and foliar chemistry. We found significant variation among populations in growth traits, but also significant population × site (G × E) interactions. We used the regression approach and ecovalence analysis to examine populations’ performance stability. Most populations had average responsiveness to environment, and a set of least-responsive poor-growing populations contributed the most to the G × E interaction. Variation in bud burst phenology was associated with geographical distribution of tested progenies. The early bud-bursting populations originated from the north-eastern to north-central Poland, and a group of late bud-bursting populations originated mainly from the south-eastern region. Correlations between bud burst and growth traits were weak to medium and varied by site, but early bud-bursting populations tended to show stronger growth on height and diameter. We found significant differences among populations in final leader length, shoot elongation time and relative growth rate (RGR). However, RGR and shoot elongation time explained less than 30% of variation in leader length and were weakly correlated with tree height. Populations varied in needle length, specific leaf area and foliar nitrogen concentration, but time trends in these traits did not vary among populations or predefined groups of populations. Therefore, the analysis of growth rhythm or needle traits did not help resolve variation in tree growth to support selection decisions. Contrary to our expectation, progeny of seed orchards did not perform significantly better than that of commercial seed stands. This finding, however, should not be extrapolated beyond our set of populations. Nonetheless, the local seed sources were not always the best. From a selection standpoint, our results help culling the worst populations rather than selecting the best ones. Therefore, testing individual family progeny and genetic roguing of existing seed orchards is highly recommended.     

Significance of genetic variation of PRRSV ORF5 in virus neutralization and molecular determinants corresponding to cross neutralization among PRRS viruses

A high rate of genetic and antigenic variability among porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSVs) hampers effective prevention and control of the disease caused by PRRSV. The major envelope protein (GP5) encoded by the ORF5 of PRRSV has a critical role in inducing virus neutralizing (VN) antibody and cross protection among different strains of PRRSV. This study was conducted to identify sequence elements related to cross neutralization by comparing the ORF5 sequences of 69 field isolates in conjunction with their susceptibility to VN antibody raised against the VR2332 strain in vitro and in vivo. Five common variable sites (amino acid position 32–34, 38–39, 57–59, 137 and 151) were identified between susceptible and resistant viral isolates. Mutants whose ORF5 amino acid sequences were substituted with the sequences corresponding to the 5 identified common variable sites individually or concurrently were generated from a VR2332-backboned infectious clone by site mutagenesis. The change in the susceptibility of the mutants to VN antibodies specific for VR2332 or a heterologous PRRSV was assessed to determine the association of those 5 identified sites with cross neutralization. Among the five sites, the changes of amino acid sequences at three sites (32–34, 38–39, and 57–59) located in the N-terminal ectodomain of ORF5 significantly influenced the susceptibility of the mutant viruses to VN antibody, suggesting that sequence homology at these sites can be utilized as genetic markers to predict the degree of cross neutralization among different PRRSVs.     

我国肉牛养殖效率及影响因素分析

肉牛产业作为我国畜牧业发展的重要组成部分,在提高农牧民收入水平、改善居民膳食结构等方面做出重大贡献。受诸多因素影响,我国肉牛产业和牛肉市场面临巨大压力,提升肉牛养殖技术效率,把握影响技术效率的关键因素,对政府调控肉牛产业、推进产业稳定健康发展具有重要参考意义。利用1998-2014年投入产出非平衡面板数据,借助随机前沿分析方法对河南、黑龙江、宁夏、陕西和新疆五省区肉牛养殖技术效率进行测算,分析其时空分布特征,探究影响肉牛养殖技术效率的关键因素。研究结果表明:1我国肉牛养殖技术效率呈现出逐年上升的趋势,1999-2014年平均技术效率为0.813 7;不同地区肉牛养殖的技术效率存在着显著差异,新疆肉牛养殖技术效率最高,其次为河南,再次为黑龙江,宁夏和陕西排在最后。2养殖密度、产业优势、资本装备和农业机械化对肉牛养殖技术效率具有显著正影响,疫病风险和饲料结构则对其具有显著负影响。     

我国肉牛产业链价格非线性波动及传递特征分析

为探讨我国肉牛产业链主要环节价格非线性波动及其传递特征,基于2012年1月—2015年10月我国肉牛产业链主要环节价格数据,采用马尔可夫转换向量自回归(MS-VAR)模型进行实证分析。结果表明:肉牛产业链主要环节价格存在2种不同的运行状态,且呈现出明显的阶段性;第1个阶段为2012年初—2013年上半年,第2个阶段为2013年下半年—2015年;肉牛产业链在常规状态运行概率更高,持续时间更长,但两状态相互转换概率均较低,说明价格波动存在平滑性。肉牛产业链价格传递作用明显,架子牛价格在产业链价格传递过程中起主导作用;产业链价格传递在不同状态下作用存在差异,非常规状态下传递作用更为明显;价格传递作用持续时间一般在半年以上。     

泵站主变压器运行效率分析

以提高泵站变压器的运行效率 ,降低泵站抽水能耗为目的 ,结合南上座泵站工程实例 ,对泵站变压器的运行工况从损耗与负载率、效率与负载率及效率与功率因数之间的关系进行了全面分析。结果表明 ,在泵站主变压器容量和机组功率一定的情况下 ,提高泵站的功率因数可以降低变压器的负载率 ,提高变压器的运行效率     

Effect of hesperetin,a citrus flavonoid,on the liver triacylglycerol content and phosphatidate phosphohydrolase activity in orotic acid-fed rats

The effect of dietary hesperetin on the hepatic lipid content and the enzyme activities involved in triacylglycerol (TG) synthesis in rats fed diets with or without 1% orotic acid (OA) was studied. Hepatic TG content was raised by approximately 5-fold after administration of OA for 10 days. The OA-feeding significantly increased the activity of hepatic microsomal phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (PAP), which is the rate-limiting enzyme for TG synthesis. Hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and malic enzyme activities were also increased. An addition of 1% hesperetin to the OA-supplemented diet resulted in the decrease of the hepatic TG content by 44% and of microsomal PAP activity. Dietary hesperetin alone neither affected liver TG content nor PAP activity significantly. OA-feeding caused an increased liver cholesterol level, whereas simultaneous addition of hesperetin and OA reduced its content to the control level. A slight reduction of hepatic cholesterol by hesperetin was also observed in the OA-free dietary group. The present study demonstrated that dietary hesperetin can reduce the hepatic TG accumulation induced by OA, and this was associated with the reduced activity of TG synthetic enzyme, PAP.     

中国红壤丘陵区水土流失规律与土壤允许侵蚀量的研究

 在 8°～ 15°的红壤坡地上 ,对水土流失做了 14年的定位观察。结果表明 ,水土流失与土壤坡度和植被覆盖度密切相关。红壤坡地一经开发利用 ,径流量就成倍地减少 ;而侵蚀量在开始的头 2年成倍增加 ,第 3年后趋于稳定。土壤侵蚀量与坡度呈极显著的对数正相关 ,坡度每增加 1° ,年土壤侵蚀量递增约 12 0t·km-2 ;土壤侵蚀量与植被覆盖度呈显著的负指数相关 ,当植被覆盖度 >6 0 %时 ,每年土壤侵蚀量在 2 0 0t·km-2 以下 ;土壤侵蚀量与耕种方式密切相关 ,等高耕种的侵蚀量仅为顺坡耕种的 1/6。应用土壤肥力平衡观点 ,首次提出了Q2 红色粘土母质发育的红壤年土壤侵蚀允许指标为 <30 0t·km-2 。     

Solar photovoltaic power systems: will they reduce utility peaking requirements?

From an analysis of the long-run electric generating requirements of several representative utilities, it is concluded that the energy supplied by solar photovoltaic power devices will displace primarily base-load, and to a lesser extent intermediate, generating plants, even at relatively modest penetrations corresponding to several percent of the utility peak load. Attaching photovoltaic devices to the utility grid will not yield significant fuel oil savings over the long run, in which utilities approach the economic optimum generating mix, and will increase peak plant requirements. Utility capacity and fuel savings of photovoltaic devices are reported both for the case without storage and for the case in which the utility has access to load-leveling storage.     

沼液在辣椒生产上的应用效果研究

研究施用沼液对辣椒生物学性状与品质的影响,结果表明:施用沼液可使辣椒初花期、座果期分别提前5～10、12～25 d;施用沼液也可使辣椒的株高更高,茎更粗;100%沼液氮处理与100%化学氮处理对比,辣椒素提高了22.08%,维生素C提高了26.44%,可溶性糖提高了22%,亚硝酸盐降低了26.44%。