Grafting influence on the weight and quality of tomato fruit under salt stress

Two commercial tomato cultivars were used to determine whether grafting could prevent decrease of fruit weight and quality under salt stress conditions. The cultivars Buran F1 and Berberana F1 were grafted onto rootstock ‘Maxifort’ and grown under three levels of elevated soil salinity (EC 3.80 dS m^?1, 6.95 dS m^?1 and 9.12 dS m^?1). Fruit weight reduction of grafted plants was lower (about 20–30%) in comparison with non‐grafted ones. Salt stress at the second salinity level (EC 6.95 dS m^?1) induced the highest alteration of examined growth and quality parameters. The total increase of phenols, flavonoids, ascorbate and lycopene content in the fruits of both grafted and non‐grafted plants for both cultivars had a similar trend and intensity, though some inter‐cultivar variation was observed. The possibility of grafting tomato plants to improve salt tolerance without fruit quality loss is discussed.     

Cryoprotective role of organic Zn and Cu supplementation in goats (Capra hircus) diet

The current study focused on cryopreservation and assessment of characters of post-thaw semen of indigenous Osmanabadi bucks maintained with standard diet, supplemented with different concentrations of organic zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) or in combination, for a period of 180 days. The different doses of organic Zn and Cu were fed per kg DM basis, Zn groups (low: Zn20, medium: Zn40 and high: Zn60), Cu groups: (low: Cu12.5, medium: Cu25 and high: Cu37.5) and combination of Zn + Cu groups (low: Zn20 + Cu12.5, medium: Zn40 + Cu25 and high: Zn60 + Cu37.5) respectively. The control group bucks were maintained mainly on the basal diet without any additional mineral supplementation. Two hundred and forty (240) semen samples were collected from 40 bucks aged 11 months, through electro ejaculator method, processed and analysed for sperm quality parameters both at pre freeze and post-thaw stage. The semen samples were diluted in Tris egg yolk extender, cooled and equilibrated for 4 h at 5 °C, cryopreserved using programmable freezer (PLANER Kryo 360–1.7) and stored at −196 °C. The organic trace minerals (Zn, Cu and Zn + Cu) protected the spermatozoa against the cryoinjury and maintained higher post-thaw semen parameters except in high Zn group. Additional feeding of organic Cu and Zn to bucks had a protective role and resulted in higher sperm liveability, plasma membrane and acrosome integrities, motility and velocity and reduced oxidative stress in supplemented goats (P < 0.05).     

三峡工程运行后对洞庭湖湿地的影响

长江三峡工程建成运行后,其下游第一个大型通江湖泊——洞庭湖的水文、水质以及湿地环境等均发生了很大变化。三峡工程已经开始影响到洞庭湖的泥沙淤积、水位波动、水质以及植被演替等。以三峡水库调度运行方案、河湖交互作用和洞庭湖湿地植被分布格局为基础,从长江三峡工程对洞庭湖水文、水质以及湿地植被演替等方面综述了三峡工程对洞庭湖湿地的综合影响。三峡工程减缓了长江输入洞庭湖泥沙的淤积速率,对短期内增加洞庭湖区调蓄空间、延长洞庭湖寿命有利。总体上减少了洞庭湖上游的来水量,改变了洞庭湖原来的水位/量变化规律。给洞庭湖水环境质量造成了直接或间接的影响,对其水质改变尚存一定争议,但至少在局部地区加剧了污染。水位变化和泥沙淤积趋缓协同改变了洞庭湖湿地原有植被演替方式,改以慢速方式演替,即群落演替的主要模式为:水生植物—虉草或苔草—芦苇—木本植物。展望了今后的研究趋势与方向,为三峡工程与洞庭湖关系的进一步研究提供参考。     

品管圈在提升研究型医院品质中的运用与实践探索

为探索医院转型发展的策略和路径,第三军医大学新桥医院积极开展医院品质建设,通过“建组织、树理念、引方法、培团队、推活动、管过程、享成果”七步流程,建立了研究型医院品质管理新模式。并以“品管圈”为牵引,使员工不仅要增强发现问题的意识,学会运用科学的管理工具解决问题,更要具备研究型的理念思路去创新管理的方法和手段,以实现“以患者为中心,以员工为导向,持续质量改进”的全面质量管理目标。     

不同微生物菌剂对基质酶活性和番茄产量及品质的影响

以鸡粪配方基质(腐熟鸡粪:腐熟玉米秸秆:河沙体积为3:4:3)和牛粪配方基质(腐熟牛粪:腐熟玉米秸秆:河沙体积为3:4:3)为试材,研究了基质中分别添加地福来、酵素菌、EM菌、枯草芽孢杆菌和农用微生物菌剂对基质酶活性和番茄产量及品质的影响.结果表明: 两种配方基质添加微生物菌剂40和60 d时根际基质的脲酶、蔗糖酶和碱性磷酸酶活性均显著提高,番茄植株生长量、果实产量及维生素C含量显著高于对照.鸡粪和牛粪配方基质均以添加地福来效果最好,番茄单株产量分别较各自对照增加14.7%和40.0%,果实维生素C含量分别提高22.2%和39.7%.在不添加微生物菌剂的情况下,鸡粪配方基质栽培的番茄单株产量和果实维生素C含量高于牛粪配方基质;分别添加地福来后,两种基质栽培的番茄单株产量和果实维生素C含量无显著差异.     

Evaluating the effect of reduced entrance surface dose on neonatal chest imaging using subjective image quality evaluation

IntroductionAs hospitalized neonates are radiosensitive and often require numerous X-rays, institutions should investigate the optimal beam parameter combinations to deliver diagnostically acceptable quality images at the lowest possible entrance surface dose (ESD). Using a subjective approach, this study evaluated the effect of different beam parameter combinations on image quality.Methods and materialsFive rabbits simulated the neonatal chest. The ESD was reduced using a variation of voltage, tube current and filtration. Eight radiology registrars, blinded to the dose parameter information, ranked the digital X-ray images of three anatomical regions from best to worst using a variation of the multiple rank order method. T-tests compared the average values, obtained from the scores assigned by each observer to images acquired at different ESDs, for each region. The calculated intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) assessed observer agreement.ResultsResults showed that a 64% dose reduction was achievable by altering the beam parameters. Large variation among the observers was confirmed by an ICC value <0.5. A 95% confidence interval could not conclude that different ESD values, resulting in a 50–77% dose reduction compared to current practice, would result in different overall observed image quality. This was noted for all three regions indicating that no preference existed towards an image acquired with a specific beam parameter combination.ConclusionsThe large variation in observers’ opinion of acceptable image quality emphasizes the importance of subjective image quality evaluation in the clinical environment. The rabbit phantom and multiple rank order method are considered appropriate for these evaluations.     

Bias in the development of health and ecological assessments and potential solutions

The effectiveness and credibility of environmental decisions depend on the information provided by scientific assessments. However, the conflicting assessments provided by government agencies, industries, and environmental advocacy groups suggest that biases occur during assessment processes. Sources of bias include personal bias, regulatory capture, advocacy, reliance on volunteer assessors, biased stakeholder and peer review processes, literature searches, standardization of data, inappropriate standards of proof, misinterpretation, and ambiguity. Assessors can adopt practices to increase objectivity, transparency, and clarity. Decision-makers, managers of assessors, and institutions that commission assessments can adopt other practices that reduce pressures on assessors and reduce opportunities for expression of the personal biases of assessors. Environmental assessment should be recognized as a discipline with its own technical and ethical best practices.