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.     

Prioritizing Wetland Restoration for Sediment Yield Reduction: A Conceptual Model

In a climate of limited resources, it is often necessary to prioritize restoration efforts geographically. The synoptic approach is an ecologically based tool for geographic prioritization of wetland protection and restoration efforts. The approach was specifically designed to incorporate best professional judgment in cases where information and resources are otherwise limited. Synoptic assessments calculate indices for functional criteria in subunits (watersheds, counties, etc.) of a region and then rank the subunits. Ranks can be visualized in region-scale maps which enable managers to identify areas where efforts optimize functional performance on a regional scale. In this paper, we develop a conceptual model for prioritizing watersheds whose wetlands can be restored to reduce total sediment yield at the watershed outlet. The conceptual model is designed to rank watersheds but not individual wetlands within a watershed. The synoptic approach is valid for applying the sediment yield reduction model because there is high demand for prioritizing disturbed wetlands for restoration, but there is limited, quantitative, accurate information available with which to make decisions. Furthermore, the cost of creating a comprehensive database is prohibitively high. Finally, because the model will be used for planning purposes, and, specifically, for prioritizing based on multiple decisions rather than optimizing a single decision, the consequence of prioritization errors is low. Model results cannot be treated as scientific findings. The conclusions of an assessment are based on judgement, but this judgement is guided by scientific principles and a general understanding of relevant ecological processes. The conceptual model was developed as the first step towards prioritizing of wetland restoration for sediment yield reduction in US EPA Region 4.     

煤矿本质安全特征及管理方法研究

分析国内煤矿本质安全管理研究现状及存在问题,进一步讨论煤矿本质安全的内涵。探讨近年来我国煤矿事故发生的致因与根源,指出人的行为安全是我国煤矿本质安全的主要特征。通过研究我国煤矿事故的控制管理,选择事故率作为我国煤矿本质安全判别的参考标准;分析我国煤矿生产的现状与差异,提出了对我国煤矿的本质安全性进行分类判别的思想;从深入开展煤矿安全管理理论研究、加强煤矿安全管理立法、建立煤矿安全管理标准和有效组织机制等方面提出了实现煤矿本质安全的管理策略。     

农用地资源修正法定级之技术路线探讨——以佛山市高明区为例

目前我国农用地资源定级很少运用修正法,少数学者对修正法定级做过尝试性的实证研究工作,以期探讨修正法定级技术路线的科学性与可行性.在前人研究的基础上,以佛山高明区为例,探讨了修正法定级之修正基础的确定、修正因素的选择、修正系数的计算、定级指数的确定等几个关键技术步骤,提出了以农用地自然质量等指数作为修正基础,采用标准化方法对修正因素分值进行订正,用连乘法计算农用地质量定级指数来划分农用地级别的修正法定级的技术路线,并与因素法定级的成果进行对比分析与验证.     

Molecular prenatal diagnosis: the impact of modern technologies

Originally prenatal diagnosis was confined to the diagnosis of metabolic disorders and depended on assaying enzyme levels in amniotic fluid. With the development of recombinant DNA technology, molecular diagnosis became possible for some genetic conditions late in the 1970s. Here we briefly review the history of molecular prenatal diagnostic testing, using Duchenne muscular dystrophy as an example, and describe how over the last 30 years we have moved from offering testing to a few affected individuals using techniques, such as Southern blotting to identify deletions, to more rapid and accurate PCR-based testing which identifies the precise change in dystrophin for a greater number of families. We discuss the potential for safer, earlier prenatal genetic diagnosis using cell free fetal DNA in maternal blood before concluding by speculating on how more recent techniques, such as next generation sequencing, might further impact on the potential for molecular prenatal testing. Progress is not without its challenges, and as cytogenetics and molecular genetics begin to unite into one, we foresee the main challenge will not be in identifying the genetic change, but rather in interpreting its significance, particularly in the prenatal setting where we frequently have no phenotype on which to base interpretation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

建立内蒙古生态环境恢复补偿机制若干问题探讨

生态环境恢复补偿机制的建立是科学利用生态资源和保持良好生存环境的必然途径,内蒙古自治区是全国天然植被分布面积最广地区之一,天然植被在保持流域、区域生态平衡,防止和减轻自然灾害,确保地区生态安全方面的重要作用毋庸置疑,然而由于原因,长期困绕我区的生态环境问题,如:森林生态系统的水源涵养、土壤保持、生物多样性保护功能衰退,水土流失的加剧、沙地活化;草场退化等级愈来愈高;湿地面积缩小,河道断流问题依然存在。近年随着矿业经济的兴起,又出现了矿山用水与农业生产争水、污染地下水等问题。因此,继矿产资源开发热潮之后,迅速做出制度安排尤为重要,本文通过对生态恢复补偿机制建立背景、重点、难点若干的探讨,旨在提出一些结合实际的可操作的补偿措施建议和意见,为制定内蒙古生态恢复补偿管理办法提供参考、并为该领域制度的完善提出技术层面的支持。