Sustainable Agriculture: New Paradigms and Old Practices? Increased Production with Management of Organic Inputs in Senegal

Farmers in Sahelian countries are confronted with a variety of soil fertility and management problems. During the last two decades, NGOs have worked with farmers and research institutions to develop and test practices that will increase food production, while at the same time enhance the natural resource base.Since 1987, The Rodale Institute (RI) has worked closely with farmers' associations and government institutions to promote regenerative agriculture-farming systems that prioritize the use of local resources while improving them as they are used to grow food, using agro-ecological methods. The Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute has collaborated in this program as a partner of RI. The Senegal Regenerative Agriculture Resource Center model has been applied as a new and viable approach that builds on traditional knowledge and farmer-to-farmer exchange.Research results on soil conservation and improvement have shown that fields spread with amended animal manure or compost yield greater harvests than fields farmed with traditional methods.     

Discrepant karyotypes after second- and third-trimester combined placentacentesis/amniocentesis

Cytogenetic data are presented from a total of 1306 consecutive pregnancies with successful diagnosis obtained from both chorionic villi after short-time culture (CVS-SC) and amniotic fluid cell cultures (AC); samples had been taken simultaneously at combined placentacentesis (placental biopsy) and amniocentesis during the second (92·8 per cent) and third (7·2 per cent) trimesters. Concordant results were obtained in 1218 pregnancies with a normal karyotype and in 62 pregnancies with an aberrant fetal karyotype. Discrepant, i. e. false-positive and false-negative, results were found in 26 cases (2 per cent). From these data the accuracy of CVS-SC, defined as the proportion of all correct diagnoses, is calculated to be 98 per cent. Three non-mosaic and 14 mosaic false-positive results obtained after CVS-SC could not be confirmed by AC. Related to 1235 true normal fetal karyotypes, the specificity of CVS-SC, i.e. the proportion of normal karyotypes correctly diagnosed, amounts to 98·6 per cent. In nine pregnancies, an aberrant fetal karyotype detected after AC was missed by CVS-SC. The sensitivity of CVS-SC, i.e. the proportion of abnormal fetuses correctly diagnosed (62 out of 71), amounts to 87·3 per cent in our study group.     

Cytogenetic analysis of 1375 amniotic fluid specimens from pregnancies with gestational age less than 14 weeks

Our laboratory has received 1375 early amniotic fluid (EA) specimens during the past 5-year period for cytogenetics analysis. The gestational ages of the EA specimens were less than 14 weeks as estimated by ultrasound. The average volume of specimen received was 16 ml. Specimens were typically received in two collection tubes and cultured in Chang A and in supplemented MEM media using the in situ technique. Of the 1375 EA specimens received, 1356 were successfully cultured and yielded results. Abnormal results were found in 67 (4.9 per cent) of the cases. Nineteen specimens (1.4 per cent) failed to yield a result. The mean turn-around time (TAT) for all EA specimens was 8.28 days. In 1991, the average TAT for the EA specimens was 8.00 days compared with a TAT of 6.59 days for all specimens received over 14 weeks gestational age. The number of EA specimens received has increased from 1.5 per month in 1986 to 57 per month in 1991. In summary, our experience with EA specimens for cytogenetic analysis has demonstrated that the success rate is 98.6 per cent and that an increasing number of obstetricians are performing early amniocentesis as they seek to provide their patients with earlier results and an alternative to chorionic villus sampling.     

浅谈实行环境会计的必要性

传统的会计理论由于缺乏环境意识,使人们在衡量社会经济发展与环境资源的利用与破坏之间存在片面认识,一方面是经济的飞速发展,另一方面是环境的不断恶化。当今,人类提出了并在努力实现经济可持续发展这一宏伟目标。在人们经济生活中引入环境会计制度,将有利于改变人们的传统片面认识,并有助于经济可持续发展这一目标的实现。     

Traditional Plant Harvesting in Contemporary Fragmented and Urban Landscapes

Abstract: Ecosystem fragmentation and destruction can lead to restrictive administration policies on traditional harvesting by indigenous peoples from remaining ecosystem tracts. In New Zealand, concerns about endangered species and governmental policies that focus on species and ecosystem preservation have resulted in severely curtailed traditional harvesting rights. Although provision has been made for limited gathering of traditional plants from government‐administered conservation lands, it is unclear how much harvesting is undertaken on these lands and elsewhere and what this harvest might consist of. We interviewed seven expert Maori elders from the Waikato, New Zealand, to identify plant species they currently harvested and from where. We compared these data with the data we collected on permits issued for plant collecting on conservation lands in the same region. We sought to gain information on indigenous plant harvesting to determine the extent of permitted harvesting from conservation lands in the Waikato and to identify issues that might affect plant harvesting and management. Elders identified 58 species they harvest regularly or consider culturally important; over 50% of these species are harvested for medicinal use. Permit data from 1996 to 2006 indicated no apparent relationship between species of reported cultural significance and the number of permits issued for each of these species. Currently, few plant species are harvested from conservation lands, although some unofficial harvesting occurs. Elders instead reported that medicinal plants are frequently collected from urban and other public areas. They reported that plant species used for dyeing, carving, and weaving are difficult to access. Elders also discussed concerns such as spraying of roadsides, which resulted in the death of medicinal species, and use of commercial hybrids in urban planning. Local government may have an increasingly important role in supporting native traditions through urban planning, which takes account of cultural harvesting needs while potentially reducing future harvesting pressure on conservation lands. We suggest that active participation by the Māori community in the development and management of urban harvesting resources will result in positive outcomes.     

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Trends in the Transition to a Market Economy: Empirical Study in the Doñana Natural Areas

Abstract: Researchers and conservation managers largely agree on the relevance of traditional ecological knowledge for natural resource management in indigenous communities, but its prevalence and role as societies modernize are contested. We analyzed the transmission of traditional knowledge among rural local people in communities linked to protected areas in Doñana, southwestern Spain. We studied changes in knowledge related to local practices in agriculture and livestock farming among 198 informants from three generations that cover the period in which the area transited from an economy strongly dependent on local ecosystem services to a market economy with intensified production systems. Our results suggest an abrupt loss of traditional agricultural knowledge related to rapid transformations and intensification of agricultural systems, but maintenance of knowledge of traditional livestock farming, an activity allowed in the protected areas that maintains strong links with local cultural identity. Our results demonstrate the potential of protected areas in protecting remaining bodies of traditional ecological knowledge in developed country settings. Nevertheless, we note that strict protection in cultural‐landscape‐dominated areas can disrupt transmission of traditional knowledge if local resource users and related practices are excluded from ecosystem management.     

中药废水主要成分厌氧生物降解途径研究

通过小试研究,利用气-质联机（GC-MS）对黄芩甙的厌氧生物降解曲线和途径进行了探讨,对黄芩甙的降解数据进行趋势化模拟和线性回归分析,得到了相应的降解动力学方程.黄芩甙可能的降解途径为“脱糖→脱苯→开环→饱和化→拆链”,降解时间需47 h以上, 厌氧分解的主要产物是小分子氧化物,如醇、醛、酸、酯、烯烃以及还原态饱和烷烃.结果表明,黄芩甙降解的限速步骤在水解酸化阶段,适宜采用两相厌氧消化技术和较长的停留时间进行处理.     

环境综合实践教学系统建设与应用

在分析和总结传统教学方法和当代教学方法在环境类专业教学中存在的不足与弊端的基础上,探讨了环境综合实践教学系统的特点、建设和应用。环境综合实践教学系统以就业为导向,建设了符合课程学习要求,能够真正运行的污水处理工艺系统、大气污染控制系统等实践教学情境。该实践教学系统在实际教学中效果良好,能够满足环境类专业教学要求,有很好的应用前景。     

中国传统村镇旅游发展研究20年历程与展望

通过对1989-2410年我国传统村镇旅游发展的研究历程分析表明,研究存在重复性文献多、理论深度不够、缺乏多学科深度结合和方法论不清晰等问题,提出今后应加强有关宏观政策的研究及与其他学科的融合,要特别注意传统村镇可持续发展、非物质文化遗产保护和社会服务功能等方面的研究,进一步推动传统村镇旅游健康发展.     

珠江口典型水产养殖区抗生素抗性基因污染的初步研究

使用普通PCR和荧光定量PCR方法对珠江口典型水产养殖区水和沉积物中3种磺胺类、7种四环素类、1种喹诺酮类抗生素抗性基因(antibiotic resistance genes,ARGs)和1种整合子基因进行了定性和定量研究.结果表明,除tetW外,所有其他ARGs在珠江口养殖区中均被检出,其中sul1、sul2和int1的检出率为100%.相同养殖模式下,养殖时间越长ARGs的相对含量越高,表明ARGs具有累积效应;不同养殖模式池塘中ARGs的含量存在差异,表明养殖模式可能影响ARGs的含量与分布.int1相对含量与sul1和ARGs总量之间均存在显著相关性(P<0.05),表明int1在ARGs的水平传播中起着非常重要的作用.此外,珠江口水产养殖区沉积物中抗生素浓度与ARGs总量存在显著相关性(P<0.05),说明水产养殖区中抗生素残留是诱导养殖区ARGs的主要因素.