天然保鲜剂壳聚糖对白桃的保鲜效果

为了探讨源东白桃的保鲜技术,以市售壳聚糖保鲜液为原料,进行了常温和4℃条件下源东白桃贮藏保鲜的研究.结果表明,市售壳聚糖保鲜液处理后的白桃失水率、腐烂率明显降低,能抑制可溶性固形物含量的增加,提高总糖的含量,可有效降低果实膜透性.表明,市售壳聚糖是一种安全、高效的天然保鲜剂,可作为常温下贮藏白桃的一种简单有效、安全的方法.     

Long lasting rubber tree resistance to Microcyclus ulei characterized by reduced conidial emission and absence of teleomorph

The resistance of the MDF 180 Hevea brasiliensis cultivar to South American leaf blight caused by Microcyclus ulei has been studied under both controlled conditions of inoculation, and under natural infestation in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Inoculated isolates on this cultivar in most cases developed sporulating lesions and produced conidiospores, but at a moderate level, characteristic of a race non-specific, partial resistance. The teleomorph of M. ulei has never been reported on this cultivar, either in controlled conditions or in natural infestation, whereas it is commonly observed on other susceptible cultivars. This type of resistance has seldom been described for other pathosystems. MDF 180 resistance having also endured for more than 30 years in areas very conducive to the disease can, therefore, be described as a durable resistance. Rubber productivity of this cultivar is not sufficient to allow planting on industrial scale, but its resistance characteristics make it a good progenitor candidate for rubber tree resistance breeding programs.     

Risk factors for overweight among Brazilian adolescents of low-income families: a case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To study risk factors for overweight among Brazilian adolescents of low-income families. DESIGN: Case-control study of obese and non-obese adolescents. SETTING: Anthropometric survey including 1420 students (aged 14-19 years) attending a public high school in S?o Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Selection of 83 overweight (body mass index (BMI) >85th percentile) and 89 non-overweight (BMI >5th percentile and <85th percentile) subjects, frequency-matched by age, gender, pubertal development and socio-economic status. Among the nutritional, familial and behavioural data available, five covariates (parents' obesity, adolescents' past obesity, to have a best friend, dietary restriction and habit of napping) were included in the fitted hierarchical conditional logistic regression models. MEASUREMENTS: Parents or guardians and adolescents were weighed, measured and answered a pre-tested questionnaire applied by trained nutritionists and paediatricians. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight was 15.2%. As previous risks, obese parents and obesity during infancy presented odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 2.23 (1.15-4.35) and 3.60 (1.47-8.80), respectively. As concurrent factors, the habit of napping, to have a best friend and reported dietary restriction presented OR (95% CI) of 3.43 (1.32-8.92), 5.15 (1.76-15.07) and 7.26 (2.95-17.88), respectively. Dietary patterns, frequency of obesogenic foods and other physical activity indicators presented no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: In case-control studies, OR may overestimate the true risks. Parents' obesity and previous childhood obesity were identified as risk factors; therefore these factors should be the target for preventive programmes and policies in order to prevent the burden of obesity in the near future.     

Paddock Size Mediates the Heterogeneity of Grazing Impacts on Vegetation

Domestic herbivores’ effect on vegetation is spatially heterogeneous, being one of the major causes of forage resources degradation. It has been proposed that paddock size controls grazing impact’s heterogeneity because as size decreases, herbivores’ utilization is spatially more even. However, this has not been critically evaluated in commercial-scale paddocks isolating paddock size effects from other factors influencing the interaction between herbivores and vegetation. Here we assessed how paddock size mediates the heterogeneity of continuous sheep grazing effects on vegetation, at constant stocking rate in Patagonian steppes. We selected three small (ca. 110 ha) and three large (ca. 1 100 ha) paddocks dominated by the same plant community. All paddocks contained a single watering point and presented similar shape. Total and specific plant cover, vegetation patchiness, population size distribution of dominant grass species, plant morphology, and sheep feces density were estimated at increasing distances from watering points. Relationships between vegetation variables and distance from the watering point were in most cases asymptotic exponential, although responses generally differed between small and large paddocks. In small paddocks, vegetation variables mostly reached a plateau at a short distance from the watering point (~ 200 m). Instead, in large paddocks, the changes in vegetation variables were larger and more gradual, and reached a plateau at much greater distances (~ 2 000 m). Vegetation heterogeneity throughout the paddock was lower in small than large paddocks. Our findings suggest that paddock size mediates the spatial pattern of grazing effects on vegetation. Reducing paddock size decreases grazing impacts spatial heterogeneity, which makes plant-animal interactions more predictable and might improve forage utilization efficiency.