假苍耳的地理分布及潜在适生区预测

外来入侵植物假苍耳在中国东北部地区快速蔓延,威胁自然生态系统的结构并对人们的健康产生危害。本研究通过野外调查获得假苍耳在东北地区的分布范围,采用Maxent模型软件对假苍耳在我国及世界的潜在适生区进行预测,运用ArcGIS软件中的自然间断点分级法进行适生等级分类,ROC曲线评价Maxent模型预测的准确性,并结合刀切法及环境变量反应曲线判断分析影响假苍耳分布的主要环境变量。结果表明,假苍耳的适生区较广,扩散范围可能继续增大。我国的华北地区、东北地区、华东地区、华中地区、西南地区、西北地区均存在适生区,高度适生区主要分布在我国的黑龙江省、吉林省、辽宁省、内蒙古自治区、山西省、陕西省、河南省、河北省、山东省、北京市、天津市、新疆维吾尔族自治区。世界范围内除南极洲外均存在假苍耳的适生区,高度适生区主要在北美洲的加拿大和美国,非洲的摩洛哥,欧洲的西班牙、克罗地亚、匈牙利、斯洛伐克、波黑、塞尔维亚、马其顿、保加利亚、格鲁吉亚、亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆,亚洲的土耳其、伊朗、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、中国、朝鲜、韩国和日本。上述适生区预测显示出假苍耳适宜生长在年均温度较高,最冷月份最低温和最冷季度平均温度较低的中纬度地区。     

GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations

In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE crops for the past 15 plus years. Prior to commercialization, GE crops go through an extensive regulatory evaluation. Over one hundred regulatory submissions have shown compositional equivalence, and comparable levels of safety, between GE crops and their conventional counterparts. One component of regulatory compliance is whole GE food/feed animal feeding studies. Both regulatory studies and independent peer-reviewed studies have shown that GE crops can be safely used in animal feed, and rDNA fragments have never been detected in products (e.g. milk, meat, eggs) derived from animals that consumed GE feed. Despite the fact that the scientific weight of evidence from these hundreds of studies have not revealed unique risks associated with GE feed, some groups are calling for more animal feeding studies, including long-term rodent studies and studies in target livestock species for the approval of GE crops. It is an opportune time to review the results of such studies as have been done to date to evaluate the value of the additional information obtained. Requiring long-term and target animal feeding studies would sharply increase regulatory compliance costs and prolong the regulatory process associated with the commercialization of GE crops. Such costs may impede the development of feed crops with enhanced nutritional characteristics and durability, particularly in the local varieties in small and poor developing countries. More generally it is time for regulatory evaluations to more explicitly consider both the reasonable and unique risks and benefits associated with the use of both GE plants and animals in agricultural systems, and weigh them against those associated with existing systems, and those of regulatory inaction. This would represent a shift away from a GE evaluation process that currently focuses only on risk assessment and identifying ever diminishing marginal hazards, to a regulatory approach that more objectively evaluates and communicates the likely impact of approving a new GE plant or animal on agricultural production systems.     

Vertebrate pesticide risk assessment by indigenous communities in New Zealand

In New Zealand, the vertebrate pesticide sodium fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is aerially applied in baits for control of the brush-tailed possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792). Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, have raised concerns about 1080 impacts on culturally-important species. Here, we outline two steps taken to help Maori assess 1080 risk. First, field research was undertaken to determine if naturally-occurring plants utilized by a Maori community for food and medicine would take up 1080 from baits. Single baits were placed at the base of individual plants of two species, pikopiko (Asplenium bulbiferum) and karamuramu (Coprosma robusta). Plants were sampled at various times up to 56 days, and samples were analyzed for 1080 content. No 1080 was detected in any of the pikopiko samples, whereas 1080 was detected in karamuramu, at a maximum concentration of 5 ppb after seven days, and 2.5 ppb after 14 days. This concentration decreased to 0 at 28 days, indicating that 1080 was not persistent. The results of the present study suggest there is negligible risk of humans being poisoned by consuming plants that have taken up 1080 from baits. To allay community concerns that minute concentrations of 1080 might influence the medicinal properties of plants, it is suggested that a withholding period of 30 days after 1080 control operations could be adopted. Second, after further consultation we undertook a review of the scientific literature relating to 1080 impacts on additional non-target species of cultural importance to Maori. The information was presented on an interactive foodweb database that allowed the collection and presentation of a large volume of complex information about 1080 in a holistic and pictorial fashion. This database was presented to many Maori communities throughout New Zealand, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The database is likely to play a key role in informing these communities about 1080, and is seen as an important new tool to help these communities make their own risk assessments.     

科学规避兽药残留风险的对策措施

笔者对2013?2020年实施的畜产品质量安全监测项目进行多环节系统分析,揭示了主要短板和风险,建议因势利导科学规避兽药残留风险,多策发力提高区域性畜产品质量安全的总体水平。     

PET/CT today and tomorrow in veterinary cancer diagnosis and monitoring: fundamentals,early results and future perspectives

Functional imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) plays an important role in the diagnosis, staging, image‐guided treatment planning and monitoring of malignant diseases. PET imaging complements conventional anatomical imaging such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The strength of CT scanning lies in its high spatial resolution, allowing for anatomical characterization of disease. PET imaging, however, moves beyond anatomy and characterizes tissue based on functions such as metabolic rate. Combined PET/CT scanners were introduced commercially in 2001 and a number of technological advancements have since occurred. Radiolabelled tracers such as ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and ¹⁸F‐fluorothymidine (FLT) allow visualization of various metabolic processes within cancer cells. Many studies in human oncology evaluating the utility of PET/CT have demonstrated clinical benefits. Few veterinary studies have been performed, but initial studies show promise for improved detection of malignancy, more thorough staging of canine cancer and determination of early response and disease recrudescence.     

A Prospective Study Of Intravenous Catheter Contamination

A one year prospective study was conducted to determine the association between intravenous catheter contamination and increased dwell time, and to identify any related risk factors. Intravenous catheters obtained from 23 cats and 98 dogs in the Intensive Care Unit at the Ontario Veterinary College with dwell times > 72 hours for the test group (n=58) and < 72 hours for a corresponding control group (n=63) were cultured between April 1991 and March 1992. One hundred and twenty one catheters were cultured, 16 jugular, 99 cephalic, and 6 saphenous. The overall contamination rate was 13 out of 121 catheters cultured (10.7%); 9/63 (14.3%) control and 4/58 (6.9%) test catheters. The bacteria isolated were E.aerogenes, S.aureus (3), P.aeruginosa, P.multocida, and Bacillus sp (7). The Bacillus sp positive catheters (5 control and 2 test) were placed during a five day period, and contaminated gauze squares were identified as the source of infection in these catheters. After these were removed from the study, the group infection rate was 6.9% control and 3.6% test. There was no significant difference between groups and no associated risk factors were identified. We conclude that intravenous dwell time need not be restricted to <72 hours.     

退耕还林(草)工程效益监测与评估技术

根据退耕还林工程对环境的直接影响,建立了效益监测指标体系,筛选出了54个指标因子,并对工程效益的评价方法进行了探讨.退耕还林(草)工程涉及面广、规模大、投入多,其工程效益监测和评估具有重要的意义.     

Evaluating environmental impacts of the Japanese beef cow–calf system by the life cycle assessment method

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the environmental impacts of a beef cow–calf system using a life cycle assessment (LCA) method and to investigate the effects of scenarios to reduce environmental impacts on the LCA results. The functional unit was defined as one marketed beef calf, and the processes associated with the cow–calf life cycle, such as feed production, feed transport, animal management, the biological activity of the animal and the treatment of cattle waste were included in the system boundary. The present results showed that the total contributions of one beef calf throughout its life cycle to global warming, acidification, eutrophication and energy consumption were 4550 kg of CO₂ equivalents, 40.1 kg of SO₂ equivalents, 7.0 kg of phosphate (PO₄) equivalents and 16.1 GJ, respectively. The contribution of each process to the total environmental impact in each environmental impact category showed a similar tendency to the contribution of each process in each environmental category reported in the case of the beef fattening system as a whole. The results from this analysis showed that shortening calving intervals by 1 month reduced environmental impacts by 5.7–5.8% in all the environmental impact categories examined in the current study, and increasing the number of calves per cow also reduced environmental impacts in all the categories, although the effects were smaller.