Questionnaire on the process of recovering horses from general anesthesia and associated personnel injury in equine practice

ObjectiveTo collect data about the current practice of recovering horses from general anesthesia and recovery personnel safety.Study designOnline survey.MethodsAn online questionnaire, including questions on general demographic data, recovery drugs, modality and characteristics of equine recovery and morbidity and mortality, was designed and distributed via e-mail to equine practitioners worldwide.ResultsPractitioners from 22 countries completed 373 questionnaires; 53% of the participants were board-certified equine surgeons, and the remainder were board-certified anesthesiologists (18%), large animal residents (8%), general practitioners (7%), large animal interns (6%), anesthesia residents (4.5%) and veterinary technicians (1.6%). Respondents were employed by academia (58%) or private practice (42%). Of the respondents employed at a university, 93% had a board-certified anesthesiologist on staff compared with 7% of respondents employed at a private practice. Most of the respondents assist horses during recovery, with 23% assisting every recovery and 44% assisting recovery in the majority of cases. Reasons for choosing to assist horses during recovery were: orthopedic procedures (57%), neurological deficits (49%), bad health (47%), history of poor recovery (44%), foals (42%), draft breeds (30%), magnetic resonance imaging (17%) and computed tomography (16%). Unacceptable recoveries were reported by 77% of participants. Commonly reported complications during recovery with any method were: orthopedic injury (66%), myopathy (54%), skin abrasion (53%) and airway obstruction (37%). The incidences of unacceptable quality of recovery (p = 0.09) or personnel injury (p = 0.56) were not different between assisted and nonassisted recoveries; however, more equine fatalities were reported for assisted recoveries (p < 0.006). Practitioners in academia reported more unacceptable recoveries (p < 0.0007) and personnel injuries (p < 0.002) compared with those in private practice.ConclusionsThe method of recovery differs among hospitals. Recovery personnel injuries associated with assisting horses during recovery are an important and previously unreported finding.     

城市公交车制动能量回收方式综述

文章在分析城市公交车运行工况的基础上,说明了城市公交车能量回收系统的必要性。分析了三种制动能量回收方式的结构原理,对三种制动能量回收系统在城市公交车上的应用进行了分析比较。     

水井酸处理效果预测研究

水井酸处理效果预测一直缺乏成熟的方法。提出了根据水位恢复曲线形态和含水层裂隙特征来预测井的首次酸处理效果，经与石油界所用方法有明显不同。石油界普遍认为，只有不位恢复曲线为快速上翘型的低产碳酸盐岩井才适合酸处理（即基质酸化），但作者近年来发现，多数水位恢复曲线为直线型的低产碳酸盐岩井，即井中含水层裂隙平均宽度＜5mm的井，酸处理效果也很好，被调查3眼这类井的单位涌水量增加值平均为423％；水位恢复曲线为缓慢上翘型的井中，部分含水层裂隙被松散物充填的井，采用特殊的酸处理方法处理后，井的单位涌水量可增加100％。另外，采用适当的方法，使用足够数量的酸进行首次酸处理后，水井再进行酸处理一般效果都很差。     

Impacts of Institutional Reforms on Irrigated Agriculture in Pakistan

Poor functioning of theirrigation system in Pakistan has been asource of concern for the last few decades,during which time it has been the subject ofconsiderable external assistance andinternal policy reforms. Consequently, thegovernment of Pakistan introducedinstitutional restructuring in irrigationand drainage subsectors to impartnecessary improvements. Under thesereforms, management at secondary canallevel has recently been handed over to theFarmers Organizations (FOs) of selecteddistributaries in pilot areas. This studywas designed to evaluate a farmer-manageddistributary in southern Punjab. Fieldmeasurements revealed that hydraulicaspects of the irrigation service deliveredby the FO management has been significantlyimproved and as a result highlyproportionate and equitable waterdistribution was observed, particularly atthe tail reaches of the distributary. Dueto effective FO management farmers'interventions to increase the outletdischarge by illegal means has been almosteradicated. As a result of theseimprovements imparted by the FO in systemmanagement, the extent of irrigated area hasincreased on average by 6 to 7%, evenunder severe drought-like conditionsprevailing in the country during recentyears. Further cost recoveries haveincreased by an amount of 14% for summerand 23% for winter growing seasons,respectively, from the irrigated area of thedistributary. Thus experience from Hakra4-R distributary has shown that even underundesirable natural circumstancesIrrigation Management Transfer (IMT) wasquite effective in achieving the keytargets of the institutional reformslaunched at pilot scale in the country.     

Introduction of Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) in Indonesia: Institutional development in action for resources management

The inability to properly maintain irrigation systems over time forced the Government of Indonesia (GOI) to seek cost recovery from water users through introduction of an irrigation service fee. The plan is to introduce this fee in all of the technical irrigation systems of Indonesia, covering about 4 million hectares, over a 12 year period. Design and Introduction of this service fee in 4 pilot areas of the 4 major rice producing provinces (West, Central and East Java, and South Sulawesi) during 1989–1991 has shown that users are willing to pay. Results of first ISF collection from over 11,000 farmers in Central and East Java in pilot systems was an encouraging 95%. However that acceptance to pay by users depends on their structured and systematic involvement in defining systems needs. They need to understand a differentiation in payment if service levels are different. They appreciate use of collected funds in the system where collected. They understand the organization of water users associations but this requires their active role in fee determination and collection. They understand the establishment of federations of these associations. ISF requires also active involvement of Local Government officials as facilitators and intermediaries between service receivers (the water users) and service providers (personnel of the Public Works irrigation department) in the introduction period. This article describes the experience of the first 21 months of the ISF project, the concept developed, the principles used as basis for ISF, the introduction at the field level, issues related to acceptance by users and by the institutions involved, and the first results.Abbreviations/Acronyms DGWRD Directorate General of Water Resources Development (Ministry of Public Works) - EOM Efficient Operation and Maintenance - Gabungan group of WUAs - IPAIR Indonesian abbreviation for ISF - ISF Irrigation Service Fee - Juru gate keeper - PBB land tax on irrigated lands - PPL agricultural field extension agent - P3A Indonesian abbreviation for Water Users Associations - PU Indonesian abbreviation for Public Works - SM Special Maintenance - WUA Water Users Associations     

基于FEM-SPH耦合的卷辊式耕层残膜回收部件结构优化与试验

针对棉田耕作层内残膜力学性能差及膜土分离困难,残膜拾净率低和回收的残膜含土量高等问题,该研究对卷辊式残膜回收部件进行优化。在分析起膜捡膜工作过程和建立卷辊弹齿与膜土团聚体之间动力学关系的基础上,采用有限元法(finite element method,FEM)和光滑粒子流体动力学(smoothed particle hydrodynamics,SPH)耦合算法,建立卷辊弹齿-膜土团聚体接触计算模型,探究卷辊弹齿与膜土团聚体之间相互作用机理,分析卷辊弹齿接触膜土团聚体后残膜受力程度和土壤扰动程度的变化规律。以卷辊回转半径、弹齿直径、弹齿顶端折弯角为试验因素,以残膜平均峰值应力及土壤最大应变为指标开展仿真试验,分析各因素对指标的影响规律并对卷辊弹齿结构参数进行优化,获得卷辊弹齿最优结构参数为：卷辊回转半径100 mm、弹齿直径5 mm、弹齿顶端折弯角42°,此时残膜平均峰值应力为0.1201 MPa,土壤最大应变为3.7584。为了验证优化后卷辊弹齿的捡拾作业性能,以拾净率和含土率为试验指标进行田间试验,结果表明：机具拾净率为80.34%,含土率为37.13%,与初代研制的样机相比拾净率提升了8.74个百分点,含土率下降了12.18个百分点,机具作业性能明显提升且试验指标达到设计要求。本文建立的有限元模型可为残膜回收机关键部件的结构优化提供参考。     

Resistance and resilience of soil biological indicators: A case study with multi-walled carbon nanotube

Soil ecosystem is experiencing stresses due to climate change, and soil inhabitants try to demonstrate their inherent resistance and resilience against those stresses. Application of nanomaterials as agricultural inputs could bring shifts in resistance and resilience patterns of soil microbes and associated enzymes, especially under short-term heat stress. With this background, the impacts of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the resistance and resilience of soil biological indicators were evaluated. An incubation experiment was conducted with varied MWCNT concentrations (0, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg kg^-1 soil) for 90 d after 24-h heat stress at 48 ±2 ℃ to assess the impacts of MWCNT on soil enzyme activities and microbial populations vis-à-vis their resistance and resilience indices under short-term exposure to heat stress. Enzyme activities were reduced after exposure to heat stress. Resistance indices of enzyme activities were enhanced by MWCNT application on day 1 after heat stress, whereas there was no recovery of enzyme activities after 90-d incubation. Like soil enzyme activities, resistance index values of soil microbial populations followed the similar trend and were improved by MWCNT application. Multi-walled carbon nanotube has the potential to improve resistance indices of soil enzyme activities and microbial populations under heat stress, although they could not recover to their original state during periodical incubation after heat stress. This study helps to understand the relative changes of biological indicators under MWCNT and their ability to withstand heat stress.     

畜禽废水磷回收产物的磷素释放特性及肥效试验研究

以畜禽废水沼气发酵液为磷回收对象,采用曝气沉淀结晶法磷回收工艺,对回收产物进行水溶性磷连续浸提试验和玉米盆栽试验,考察畜禽废水磷回收产物的磷素动态释放情况、玉米盆栽的肥效以及磷素利用情况。浸提试验表明,磷回收产物经6次浸提,水溶性磷的释放量呈缓慢下降的趋势,第6次与第1次相比只下降了1.42%,总释放量占总磷的57.97%,证明磷回收产物（RPP）具有良好的缓释性,作为肥料使用时不易被水淋失。盆栽试验表明,用RPP以不同比例代替磷酸一铵作为肥料对玉米均能起到显著的增产作用,最佳的质量替代比例为40%;RPP较磷酸一铵的地上部分和地下部分磷素利用率分别高出19.14%和2.50%,显示其具有较高的磷吸收效率。因此,从畜禽废水沼气发酵液中回收得到的磷回收产物具有较高的肥效价值,是一种节约资源、保护环境、缓解磷资源危机的新型肥料。     

Response of Rice Seedlings to Copper Toxicity and Acidity

Metal toxicity and soil acidity affect plant growth. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to simulate effects of pH and copper concentration [Cu] on early growth and biomass production of high-yielding rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L. cv. ‘NIAB 6’). The rice seedlings were allowed to grow in Yoshida nutrient solution with 1 (control), 8, 16, and 32 μM Cu at buffered pH levels of 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5, respectively. Shoot and root growth, leaf chlorophyll content, and root lipid peroxidation and K⁺ leakage of 15-day-old rice seedlings were determined. Results show that [Cu] had significant adverse effects on rice seedlings. Shoot height and root length were reduced by 18%–60% and 7%–69%, respectively, compared with the control, and shoot and root weight decreased by 26%–56%, and 25%, respectively, in response to progressive increases in [Cu]. Similarly, leaf chlorophyll content decreased by 150%–245% compared with the control treatment. Rice seedling roots suffered from significant increases in lipid peroxidation followed by K⁺ leakage (> 8–23 times) in response to increasing [Cu]. Averaged across [Cu], seedling growth and biomass were greater at pH 5.5 than at other pH treatments. In some instances, increasing pH minimized the adverse effects of Cu at low concentrations on rice seedlings.