Effects of water regime,crop residues,and application rates on control of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense

Biological soil disinfestation is an effective method to control soil-borne disease by flooding and incorporating with organic amendments, but field conditions and resources sometimes limited its practical application. A laboratory experiment was conducted to develop practice guidelines on controlling Fusarium wilt, a widespread banana disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC). FOC infested soil incorporated with rice or maize straw at rates of 1.5 tons/ha and 3.0 tons/ha was incubated under flooded or water-saturated (100% water holding capacity) conditions at 30°C for 30 days. Results showed that FOC populations in the soils incorporated with either rice or maize straw rapidly reduced more than 90% in the first 15 days and then fluctuated till the end of incubation, while flooding alone without organic amendment reduced FOC populations slightly. The rapid and dramatic decrease of redox potential (down to − 350 mV) in straw-amended treatments implied that both anaerobic condition and strongly reductive soil condition would contribute to pathogen inactivation. Water-saturation combined with straw amendments had the comparable effects on reduction of FOC, indicating that flooding was not indispensable for inactivating FOC. There was no significant difference in the reduction of FOC observed in the straw amendments at between 1.5 and 3 tons/ha. Therefore, incorporating soil with straw (rice or maize straw) at a rate of 3.0 tons/ha under 100% water holding capacity or 1.5 tons/ha under flooding, would effectively alleviate banana Fusarium wilt caused by FOC after 15-day treating under 30°C.     

Biological removal of antiandrogenic activity in gray wastewater and coking wastewater by membrane reactor process

A recombinant human androgen receptor yeast assay was applied to investigate the occurrence of antiandrogens as well as the mechanism for their removal during gray wastewater and coking wastewater treatment. The membrane reactor (MBR) system for gray wastewater treatment could remove 88.0% of antiandrogenic activity exerted by weakly polar extracts and 97.3% of that by moderately strong polar extracts, but only 32.5% of that contributed by strong polar extracts. Biodegradation by microorganisms in the MBR contributed to 95.9% of the total removal. After the treatment, the concentration of antiandrogenic activity in the effluent was still 1.05 μg flutamide equivalence (FEQ)/L, 36.2% of which was due to strong polar extracts. In the anaerobic reactor, anoxic reactor, and membrane reactor system for coking wastewater treatment, the antiandrogenic activity of raw coking wastewater was 78.6 mg FEQ/L, and the effluent of the treatment system had only 0.34 mg FEQ/L. The antiandrogenic activity mainly existed in the medium strong polar and strong polar extracts. Biodegradation by microorganisms contributed to at least 89.2% of the total antiandrogenic activity removal in the system. Biodegradation was the main removal mechanism of antiandrogenic activity in both the wastewater treatment systems.     

Effects of gas flow rate, inlet concentration and temperature on the biofiltration of toluene vapors

In this work the variation in the elimination capacity of a biofilter as a function of the gas flow and toluene concentration was studied. A bioreactor 0.75 m high x 14.5 cm diameter was used, divided into three equal stages, using compost to support the microorganisms, and sea shells to control the pH. The biofiltration of toluene was evaluated for flows between 0.12 and 0.73 m(3)h(-1) in a concentration range of 1-3.2 gm(-3). It was observed that on increasing the toluene inlet load by 90% (from 37 to 70 gm(3)h(-1)), the conversion by the biofilter varied by only 5% (from 98% to 93%). The biofiltration system used achieved elimination capacities of up to 82 gm(-3)h(-1) for a toluene load of 100 gm(-3)h(-1).     

Alien plant invasions--incorporating emerging invaders in regional prioritization: a pragmatic approach for Southern Africa

Plant invasions are a serious threat to natural and semi-natural ecosystems worldwide. Most management-orientated research on invasions focuses on invaders that are already widespread and often have major impacts. This paper deals with "emerging" invaders-those alien species with the potential to become important problems without timely intervention. A climate matching procedure was developed to define areas of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland that could be invaded by 28 plant species that had previously been classified as emerging invaders. Information on the location of populations of these species in the study area was combined with information on their distributions (as native or alien) in parts of Australia and the United States of America. These two countries had the best available distribution data for this study. They also share many invasive alien plant species with South Africa. Climatic data obtained for weather stations near points of known occurrence in these countries were used to define the climatically suitable areas for each species in the study area. Almost 80% of the remaining natural environment in southern Africa was found to be vulnerable to invasion by at least one of these species, 50% by six or more and 24% by 16 or more species. The most vulnerable areas are the highveld grasslands and the eastern escarpment. The emerging invaders with the greatest potential range included Acacia podalyriifolia and Cortaderia selloana. The globally important invaders Ulex europaeus and Lythrum salicaria had a more limited invasion potential but could still become major invaders. There was no relationship between the extent of the climatically suitable areas for the different species and an expert ranking of their invasion potential, emphasising the uncertainties inherent in making expert assessments based on very little information. The methods used in this analysis establish a protocol for future modelling exercises to assess the invasion potential of other emerging invaders.     

Water Hyacinth in China: A Sustainability Science-Based Management Framework

The invasion of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has resulted in enormous ecological and economic consequences worldwide. Although the spread of this weed in Africa, Australia, and North America has been well documented, its invasion in China is yet to be fully documented. Here we report that since its introduction about seven decades ago, water hyacinth has infested many water bodies across almost half of China’s territory, causing a decline of native biodiversity, alteration of ecosystem services, deterioration of aquatic environments, and spread of diseases affecting human health. Water hyacinth infestations have also led to enormous economic losses in China by impeding water flows, paralyzing navigation, and damaging irrigation and hydroelectricity facilities. To effectively control the rampage of water hyacinth in China, we propose a sustainability science-based management framework that explicitly incorporates principles from landscape ecology and Integrated Pest Management. This framework emphasizes multiple-scale long-term monitoring and research, integration among different control techniques, combination of control with utilization, and landscape-level adaptive management. Sustainability science represents a new, transdisciplinary paradigm that integrates scientific research, technological innovation, and socioeconomic development of particular regions. Our proposed management framework is aimed to broaden the currently dominant biological control-centered view in China and to illustrate how sustainability science can be used to guide the research and management of water hyacinth.     

聚落“双修”视角下乡村振兴路径——以祁东县沙井村为例

在快速城镇化进程中,乡村凋敝对城乡协调和区域可持续发展构成严峻挑战。寻求乡村发展路径是落实乡村振兴战略的重要举措,也是迫在眉睫的核心任务。在厘清乡村聚落物质要素修补与非物质要素修复的聚落“双修”内涵基础上,针对乡村发展面临的系列难题,通过“生态”和“历史文化”资源整合、“人口”“土地”“产业”和“配套设施”的转移及建设,来探究根治“乡村病”的科学模式与振兴路径：对标双修、绿色发展以振兴乡村生态;六位一体、文化繁荣以振兴乡村文化;高效输出、对口回流以振兴乡村人才;横向联合、纵向推进以振兴乡村产业;三治融合、多元共建以振兴乡村组织。以祁东县沙井村规划实践为例,从人、生、文、地、产、设等六方面提出修复修补策略与措施,以达到修复乡村生态、培育乡村文化、恢复乡村社会朝气、振兴乡村产业经济、提升乡村人居环境的目的。     

A novel approach to estimate and control denitrification performance in activated sludge systems with respirogram technology

Respirogram technology has been widely applied for aerobic process, however, the response of respirogram to anoxic denitrification is still unclear. To reveal such response may help to design a new method for the evaluation of the performance of denitrification. The size distribution of flocs measured at different denitrification moments demonstrated a clear expansion of flocs triggered by denitrification, during which higher specific endogenous and quasi-endogenous respiration rates (SOUR_e and SOUR_q) were also observed. Furthermore, SOUR_q increases exponentially with the specific denitrification rate (SDNR), suggesting that there should be a maximum SDNR in conventional activated sludge systems. Based on these findings, an index R_q/t, defined as the ratio of quasi-endogenous (OUR_q) to maximum respiration rate (OUR_t), is proposed to estimate the denitrification capacity that higher R_q/t indicates higher denitrification potential, which can be readily obtained without complex measurement or analysis, and it offers a novel and promising respirogram-based approach for denitrification estimation and control by taking measures to extend anoxic time to maintain its value at a high level within a certain range.     

某型飞机4号油箱结构损伤分析及修复评估

目的 某型双座机使用中发现4号油箱存在不同程度结构损伤,分析其损伤原因和制定修理方案。方法 对4号油箱结构状态进行深入检查评估后,从结构损伤过程、载荷情况、设计制造和外场使用等方面综合分析损伤原因。对实际损伤结构进行强度计算和评估,制定结构损伤补强修理方案,并提出修理改进建议。结果 通过分析得出,损伤原因主要是4号油箱局部存在设计制造缺陷,且飞机在作大过载飞行时,4号油箱可能处于满油或大量余油的高负载状态。根据损伤原因制定的修理方案合理可行,通过了静强度校核和评估。结论 基于该损伤结构提出的修理方案通过实际修理验证,能够满足油箱结构强度设计要求,提出的改进建议能够改善飞机疲劳品质。     

航空装备腐蚀维护维修新材料研究进展

针对海洋环境下服役航空装备极易发生腐蚀的问题,介绍了清洗剂、去腐蚀产物膏、缓蚀剂等腐蚀维护维修新材料的研究进展,包括功能、分类、技术指标等。清洗剂用于航空装备的日常清洗、维护以及维修,去除油污等污染物,防止腐蚀;去腐蚀产物膏用于外场航空装备腐蚀产物的原位去除;缓蚀剂用于在不能对现役航空装备的防护体系进行大幅改动的情况下,针对海洋环境下航空装备的防腐蚀需求,对航空装备进行附加防护或临时防护。综合运用腐蚀维护维修新材料进行航空装备的腐蚀防护,可以预防和减少腐蚀的发生,及时对腐蚀部位进行修复,保障航空装备的使用性能和战斗力。     

Effectiveness of Panama as an intercontinental land bridge for large mammals

Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and establishment of biological corridors is a common strategy to mitigate this problem. A flagship example is the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), which aims to connect protected forest areas between Mexico and Panama to allow dispersal and gene flow of forest organisms. Because forests across Central America have continued to degrade, the functioning of the MBC has been questioned, but reliable estimates of species occurrence were unavailable. Large mammals are suitable indicators of forest functioning, so we assessed their conservation status across the Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest section of the MBC. We used large-scale camera-trap surveys and hierarchical multispecies occupancy models in a Bayesian framework to estimate the occupancy of 9 medium to large mammals and developed an occupancy-weighted connectivity metric to evaluate species-specific functional connectivity. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and tapir (Tapirus bairdii) had low expected occupancy along the MBC in Panama. Puma (Puma concolor), red brocket deer (Mazama temama), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which are more adaptable, had higher occupancy, even in areas with low forest cover near infrastructure. However, the majority of species were subject to ≥1 gap that was larger than their known dispersal distances, suggesting poor connectivity along the MBC in Panama. Based on our results, forests in Darien, Donoso–Santa Fe, and La Amistad International Park are critical for survival of large terrestrial mammals in Panama and 2 areas need restoration.