Consciousness or the Art of Foul Play

The psychological literature about consciousness has been analyzed. It is argued that: 1) Only the higher symbolic cognitive powers like the ability to keep secrets, knowledge of self or self-consciousness, a long-term view on the future, the ability to determine long-term goals, and to freely plan future behavior, add positive fitness-value to consciousness. Without these higher intellectual abilities consciousness will have only negative fitness value and no positive one. The intellectual powers mentioned may therefore be considered as prerequisites for consciousness. Consciousness may therefore only be expected in those animal species that show these capacities in their behavior. So far these capacities have only been described for the anthropoid apes and humans. For the time being, they are therefore the only species in which consciousness may be expected. 2) Consciousness is not synchronous with real time. Human consciousness is, in as well in the perception of stimuli as in the experience of free will to act, most times running after the facts. 3) Consciousness has to be viewed as an instinct that has been developed late in evolution. It is partially based upon primarily innate neural circuits, fulfilling specialized cognitive functions by which information is interpreted and inferences are made, in a more or less automatical way. 4) Most information processing concerning daily decisions,is done by parallel non-consciously functioning neural modules using ‘sloppy logic’, and only the end-product of these modules can be pushed forwards to consciousness. For this reason consciousness will, most times, lack the necessary information to come to the correct inferences about the evaluations on which the decision is based. Therefore, only rarely will people have insight into their cognitive processes or the real sources of their behavior. When asked why they behaved as they did, they will produce confabulations. However, people's erroneous reports are not capricious, but regular and systematic in such a way that they will fit the pre-existing ideas and beliefs. The contents of these reports are therefore not based upon introspection, but, most times, on (sub)culturally accepted ideas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Sensitivity Analysis of Nitrogen Losses from Dairy Farms

International attention has focused on agricultural production systems as non-point sources of pollution affecting the quality of streams, estuaries and ground water resources. The objective of the current study was to develop a model of nitrogen management on the dairy farm, and to perform sensitivity analyses in order to determine the relative importance of manipulating herd nutrition, manure management and crop selection in reducing nitrogen (N) losses from the farm. The importance of the method of N input to the farm (purchased feed, legume fixation, inorganic fertilizer, imported manure) was investigated, and the potential to reduce N losses from dairy farms was evaluated. Nitrogen balance equations were derived, and related efficiency coefficients were set to reference values representing common management practices. Total farm N efficiency (animal product N per N input), and N losses per product N were determined for different situations by solving the set of simultaneous equations. Improvements in animal diet and management that increase the conversion of feed N to animal product by 50% would increase total farm N efficiency by 48% and reduce N losses per product by 36 to 40%. In contrast, reducing losses from manure collection, storage and application to improve the percentage of manure N that becomes available in soil by 100% would only improve total farm N efficiency by 13% and reduce total N losses by 14%. Selecting crops and management that can use soil nutrients 50% more efficiently would improve total farm efficiency by up to 59% and reduce N losses by up to 41% depending on the predominant nitrogen sources to the farm. Legume production would reduce N losses per product compared with non-legumes. There was more than a five fold difference in N losses per animal product N between the most extreme scenarios suggesting considerable opportunity to reduce N losses from dairy farms.     

油气田采油(气)废水处理设施运行情况调查与评价

通过对全国19个油气田191套采油（气）废水处理设施进行调查，针对其工艺流程、建设投资、处理能力、运行费用、运行状况和处理效果，分析了现有处理方法存在的问题，并提出了解决的办法。对今后处理设施的管理、改进和处理技术的研究有一定参考价值。     

海南特区农村剩余劳动力资源的开发与利用

本文论述了海南特区农村剩余劳动力资源的现状及其影响劳动力资源开发利用的主要因素，提出了海南特区农村剩余劳动力资源开发与利用的途径。     

西藏自治区土地资源的适宜性评价与利用

本文综合评价了西藏自治区土地资源的适宜性及其质量．阐明了影响土地资源潜力发挥的主要限制因素，分析了土地资源利用现状、存在问题和开发潜力。并在此基础上、提出了西藏自治区土地资源合理开发利用的方向、对策和措施。     

淮河下游地区森林资源及其经营管理对策

本文论述了淮河下游地区常绿针叶林、落叶阔叶林，落叶常绿阔叶混交林，竹林等森林资源类型的特征，分析了该地区森林资源在经营管理中存在的问题，提出了应采取的森林资源经营管理对策。     

邵阳市旅游资源的定量评价与开发

本文介绍了邵阳市丰富的旅游资源，运用专家调查法建立了评价指标体系，对市域内主要旅游资源进行了定量评价；并在初步分析本市旅游业落后原因的基础上，提出了旅游资源开发利用对策。     

浙产白术市售种子质量的鉴定

根据试验,浙江产白术种子的净度可分为3个等级：一级净度为95％以上,二级净度90％～95％,三级净度90％以下.其发芽率为45％～59％,与种子批次的千粒重密切相关.种子在室外阳光下晒干.含水量可控制在8％～10％,而在室内阴干则与环境的相对湿度密切相关.其千位重的差异与该种子批次内大.中、小粒种子的比例有关,一般种子千粒重为25.60～37.50g.     

岷江干流（成都段）水体污染防治对策研究

本文通过对岷江干流（成都段）地表水和地下水的综合研究，分别提出了地表水污染防治对策和地下水水质防护措施，划分出了地表水防治不同时期的目标以及地下水开采管理目标。     

IMPLICATIONS OF C.A.R.E. VS. SOUTHVIEW FARM ON THE U.S. LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY INDUSTRY1

ABSTRACT: On May 19, 1993, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York found Southview Farm and Richard H. Popp guilty of violating the Clean Water Act on five occasions. The violations were the result of storm water runoff from a site used for disposal of dairy cattle manure from an unpermitted concentrated animal feeding operation. The presiding District Court judge later dismissed the jury verdict, and subsequently a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the dismissal. The Court of Appeals concluded that the discharges were not exempt as agricultural storm water discharges, and that the manure spreaders involved were point sources. Because the use of animal manures in crop production activities will result, unavoidably, in the discharge of some pollutants to adjacent surface waters, a rational and universally applicable basis is needed to determine when such discharges are point versus nonpoint source. Current statutes and regulations do not delineate clearly such a boundary. To address this lack of specificity, I propose that application rates be based on recommended crop nutrient needs.