The role of green roofs in mitigating Urban Heat Island effects in the metropolitan area of Adelaide,South Australia

Changing an urban environment and replacing vegetated surfaces with low albedo materials is one of the reasons for increasing temperatures in an urban environment and consequently also one of the key causes of urban heat island effects. In this study, an experimental investigation at the micro-scale and also a numerical simulation at the macro-scale of a typical urban environment in Adelaide were conducted to estimate the potential for mitigating the UHI effect. The results showed that existing low albedo materials such as asphalt, metal roofs and brick pavements contribute to the heat island potential. Also, urban development and a lack of natural vegetation contribute to increased temperatures in cities. The ability of two types of extensive and intensive green roofs to reduce the surrounding micro-climate temperature were monitored. The results showed that they have significant cooling effects in summer time and could behave as an insulation layer to keep buildings warmer in the winter. Furthermore, different scenarios of adding green roofs to the Adelaide urban environment were investigated using the Envi–MET model. The scenario modelling of adding green roofs in a typical urban area in Adelaide, Australia, supported the hypothesis that this can lead to reductions in energy consumption in the Adelaide urban environment. Also an increased use of other water sensitive urban design technologies such as green walls and street trees together with the adoption of high albedo materials is recommended for achieving the optimum efficiency in terms of reducing urban temperatures and mitigating urban heat island effects.     

Acquired Thermo‐Tolerance and Trans‐Generational Heat Stress Response at Flowering in Rice

In rice, pre‐exposure to sublethal treatment followed by harsh lethal treatment is known to improve tolerance of different abiotic stresses at the vegetative stage within and across generations. Our major aim was to test the phenomenon of thermo‐tolerance at flowering across (trans)‐generations and within generation using rice cultivars contrasting for heat stress tolerance at flowering. To test trans‐generational response, plants were exposed to higher temperature at flowering stage and seeds obtained from previous generations were exposed to heat stress during flowering, which recorded significantly lower fertility when exposed to the same degree of stress in their subsequent generations. A pre‐acclimation to moderately high acclimating temperatures imposed over three different durations during the vegetative and initial reproductive stage showed positive response in the tolerant N22, particularly under severe heat stress (40 °C). This finding indicates the possibility of acquiring ameliorative thermo‐tolerant mechanisms at anthesis, restricted to tolerant genetic backgrounds to combat subsequent harsh conditions within the same generation. However, trans‐generational memory was ineffective in mitigating spikelet sterility losses in both tolerant and susceptible backgrounds. Rice is extremely sensitive to heat stress during flowering; hence, similar exercise across other crops of interest needs to be carried out before generalizing conclusions.     

Dry heat treatment of Andean lupin seed to reduce anthracnose infection

The potential of dry heat treatment of Andean lupin seed to reduce seed–borne infection of the anthracnose pathogen, Colletotrichum acutatum, was investigated. First, the effect of dry heat (65 °C) over duration times of 0–96 h on germination and disease incidence after germination was evaluated for artificially– and naturally–infected seed. Dry heat treatment from 8 to 96 h reduced disease incidence after germination to undetectable levels in four cultivars compared with 7.5% disease incidence after germination in seed maintained at room temperature. Moreover, heat treatments of 4–12 h showed seed germination rates that were equivalent to the non–treated control. Under greenhouse conditions, dry heat treatments for 8 or 12 h reduced transmission of the pathogen from seed by 75 or 85%, respectively and dry heat treatment increased emergence of seedlings in comparison the non-treated control. Dry heat treatment is an environmentally friendly alternative for reducing anthracnose infections in Andean lupin seed.     

Transgenic expression of a sorghum gene (SbLRR2) encoding a simple extracellular leucine-rich protein enhances resistance against necrotrophic pathogens in Arabidopsis

Plant leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain-containing proteins are known to play important roles in signaling transduction and defense responses. In sorghum, SbLRR2 is pathogen-inducible gene encoding a simple extracellular LRR protein. Here, we demonstrated an earlier and stronger expression of SbLRR2 in a sorghum resistant genotype in comparison to a susceptible genotype following inoculation with the anthracnose pathogen (Colletotrichum sublineolum). In addition, SbLRR2 expression was found to be induced strongly by methyl-jasmonate treatment. Functional analysis was performed in SbLRR2 over-expression (OE) Arabidopsis plants, which showed enhanced resistance against the necrotrophic pathogens Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria brassicicola. In addition, the OE lines were found to have elevated expression of several jasmonate acid (JA)-associated genes and higher endogenous JA contents. Hence, the SbLRR2-mediated defense responses in transgenic Arabidopsis are likely to be dependent on JA-signaling through increased JA production. On the other hand, the OE lines remained susceptible to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato like the wild type plants. Consistently, there was no up-regulation of salicylic acid (SA) defense marker gene expression or SA levels in the OE lines. Our results suggested that SbLRR2 is potentially useful for enhancing resistance against necrotrophic pathogens in transgenic dicot crops.     

相变材料在绿色储粮中的应用探讨

相变材料能够储存或释放显热,在熔化或凝固过程中虽然温度不变但吸收的潜热却相当大。根据相变材料可以吸收环境热能并在需要时向环境发出热能的特征,研究相变材料在粮食仓储中的应用,减小外界环境对粮仓温度的影响,达到恒温绿色生态储粮的目的。     

火灾环境下邻近罐壁热辐射分布实验

油罐火灾蔓延的主要因素是油罐热辐射,在着火罐火焰热辐射作用下,邻近罐极易被引燃,造成整个罐区大面积起火。为了研究邻近罐罐壁热辐射分布规律,建立了油罐燃烧对邻近罐热辐射影响的小尺寸实验装置,开展了火灾环境下邻近罐壁热辐射分布的实验研究。结果表明:在火灾环境下,邻近罐正对着火罐方向的罐壁受辐射作用最大,热辐射从罐顶到罐底逐渐降低、从中心向两边呈轴对称降低;随着L/D(L为相邻两个油罐的距离,D为油罐的直径)增大,邻近罐热辐射下降。实验数据为火灾环境下邻近罐的热辐射研究提供了参考,对防止邻近罐被引燃,做好油罐区火灾爆炸事故的预防具有重大意义。     

Effects of germination and kilning on the phenolic compounds and nutritional properties of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus)

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus) are nutritious pseudocereals that originate from the Andean region. The aim of this research was to study the effect of germination and the subsequent kilning on the phenolic compounds and proximate composition in selected Peruvian varieties of quinoa (“Chullpi”) and kiwicha (“Oscar Blanco”). The germination process was carried out for 24, 48 and 72 h at 22 °C, and the kilning was performed with samples germinated for 72 h by drying the seeds at 90 °C for 5 min. Both processes increased the protein content of the samples. However, lipid content was reduced during germination. On the other hand, germination and kilning clearly increased the concentration of total phenolic compounds in both quinoa and kiwicha. Germination for 72 h either with or without kilning process resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the total content of phenolics compared to untreated materials, which was especially due to coumaric acid and a kaempferol tri-glycoside in quinoa and caffeoylquinic acid in kiwicha. Based on the results, germination and kilning may improve the nutritional quality of the Andean grains, encouraging the usage of the processed grains as ingredients in functional products for people with special gluten-free or vegetarian diets.     

不同饲粮粗蛋白质水平下黑水虻蛋白替代豆粕对蛋鸡生产性能、蛋清品质及血清蛋白质代谢指标的影响

本试验旨在探讨不同饲粮粗蛋白质水平下黑水虻蛋白替代豆粕对蛋鸡生产性能、蛋清品质及血清蛋白质代谢指标的影响。采用单因素随机试验设计,选用252只产蛋率相近的33周龄罗曼白蛋鸡,随机分为3组,每组7个重复,每重复12只鸡。各组分别饲喂标准回肠可消化氨基酸(SIDAA)平衡模式下配制的不同粗蛋白质水平(16.50%、14.85%、13.20%)的玉米-豆粕-黑水虻蛋白饲粮,各组黑水虻蛋白与豆粕提供等量的粗蛋白质。预试期2周,正试期12周。结果表明:1)与16.50%组相比,14.85组%和13.20%组的产蛋率和平均日采食量无显著影响(P>0.05),平均蛋重显著降低(P<0.05),料蛋比显著升高(P<0.05);13.20%组的产蛋量显著降低(P<0.05),14.85%组的产蛋量无显著差异(P>0.05)。2)与16.50%组相比,14.85%组的平均蛋重、蛋清重、浓蛋白重、蛋白高度、哈氏单位和蛋清比例均无显著差异(P>0.05);13.20%组的平均蛋重、浓蛋白重、蛋白高度显著降低(P<0.05),蛋清重和哈氏单位呈下降趋势(P=0.0513和P=0.0673)。3)各组血清谷草转氨酶、谷丙转氨酶活性及总蛋白、白蛋白、尿酸含量无显著差异(P>0.05)。16.50%和13.20%饲粮粗蛋白质水平对蛋鸡输卵管膨大部分泌功能有轻微不良影响。由此可见,在SIDAA模式下,以黑水虻蛋白替代豆粕并使饲粮粗蛋白质水平降低至14.85%时对鸡蛋蛋清品质无不良影响。