Home Garden Production and Energetic Sustainability in Calakmul,Campeche, Mexico

Energy flows were studied for the 2002–2003 agricultural cycle in four households for which agriculture is part of a diversified survival strategy and four that practice agriculture as a business. Home garden inputs and outputs were measured monthly. Quantified inputs were: household labour, household agro-system production, and purchased external renewable and non-renewable energy. Outputs measured were: sales, family and animal foods. While both strategies had similar indicators in biomass and energy production, vegetable richness, and soil quality, household garden function and sustainability differed between subsistence and commercial householders. Subsistence gardens complemented family diet and contributed to household system resiliency. They relied heavily on renewable energy sources from within their agro-system. Gardens in commercial households reduced fruit tree area and increased animal husbandry for the market. They depended more on purchased non-renewable energy sources and were less sustainable and much less energy efficient than traditional gardens.

社区老年人上呼吸道定植菌调查及药敏分析

调查社区老年人上呼吸道的定植菌情况,能够了解引起社区老年人呼吸道感染的危险因素,分析主要定植菌的药敏结果,指导社区老年人呼吸道感染的经验治疗。取社区老年人咽喉部拭子进行细菌分离培养及鉴定,调查呼吸道定植菌情况,并对主要定植菌进行药敏试验,细菌鉴定应用法国生物梅里埃公司的细菌鉴定仪VITEK2和API系统,药敏试验采用K-B纸片琼脂扩散法,结果统计应用WHONET5.4软件。对706例社区老年人上呼吸道标本进行分离培养,有274份标本生长了致病菌或条件致病菌,其中248份标本有一种细菌生长,26份标本生长2种细菌,总体阳性率为38.8%。共分离9种细菌,居首位的细菌是肺炎克雷伯菌151株,占21.4%,其次为副流感嗜血杆菌74株,占10.5%,第3位的是β-溶血链球菌31株,占4.4%。75株肺炎克雷伯菌的药敏结果显示全部为敏感株,从药敏表型分析具有较高的同源性。老年人群上呼吸道定植菌以革兰阴性杆菌尤其以肺炎克雷伯杆菌为主,并对常用抗菌药物有高度敏感性,一旦发生定植菌感染应选择合适的抗菌药物并给予恰当的治疗方案,防止细菌产生耐药性。     

Biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether as a sole carbon source by aerobic granules cultivated in a sequencing batch reactor

Aerobic granules efficient at degrading methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were successfully developed in a well-mixed sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Treatment efficiency of MTBE in the reactor during the stable operations exceeded 99.8%, and effluent MTBE was consistently below 800 mug/L. The specific MTBE degradation rate was observed to increase with increasing MTBE initial concentrations from 25 to 400 mg/L, peaked at 18.2 mg-MTBE/g-VSS h, and declined with further increases in MTBE concentration as substrate inhibition effects became significant. There was a good fit between these biodegradation data and the Haldane equation (R (2) = 0.976). Microbial community DNA profiling was carried out using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of polymerase chain reaction amplified 16S rDNA. The aerobic granule was found to contain a wide diversity of microorganisms. More than 70% similarity among the samples in the time period examined indicated a highly stable microbial community as the reactor reached the stable operation.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Periconiella lecythidis</Emphasis> sp. nov., the causal agent of a zonate leaf spot disease of the Brazilian tree <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lecythis pisonis</Emphasis>

A new defoliating disease was observed on 20-year-old trees of Lecythis pisonis in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The disease is characterized by forming one or more large zonate epiphyllous leaf spots with a light brown to white center, followed by two to three zones gradually varying from brown to red-brown. On the corresponding abaxial leaf surface, the spots are lighter with a profuse greenish gray coloration caused by the fungal colonies. In PDA culture, the fungus is characterized by a slow growth of the colonies with brown-violet pigmentation at the reverse. Inoculation tests carried out on healthy plants of L. pisonis confirmed the pathogenicity of this fungus. Periconiella lecythidis sp. nov., the causal agent of the zonate leaf spot disease of L. pisonis is described, illustrated, discussed and compared with the other species of the genus Periconiella. The intricate generic affinity within a complex of morphologically similar hyphomycete genera consisting of Metulocladosporiella, Parapericoniella, Penidiella and Periconiella is discussed in detail.     

Role of magpie in bird community formation in secondary forest

We analyzed a bird community in a secondary forest and the results show that the magpie was one of the key groups in the secondary forest. The key group is identified based on the nests used by other birds at a rate of 25%–40.17%. The size of the community is different and the number of these key groups is not certain. __________ Translated from Journal of Northeast Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 2006, 38 (3): 644-651 [译自: 东北师大学报(自然科 学版)]     

长江口冲积岛植物群落演替现状

长江口冲积岛（崇明、横沙、长兴、九段沙）发育至今,生物、非生物环境因子起着重要作用。其中,成岛年龄、高程、土壤种类、土壤养分、土壤含盐量、土壤pH值等影响着冲积岛植物群落的形成、定居与演替。在多年野外调查基础上,本文以时间跨度,运用等差序列排序,阐述了冲积岛植物群落的植物多样性,记录并预测了历年冲积岛植物数量,采用典范对应分析（CCA）二维排序方法,对冲积岛多种生境下植物群落的演替现状和所适应的环境因子进行了分析,运用植物样方调查数据,对个别群落间的竞争作了生产量、生境等分析,为研究长江口冲积岛生态系统提供了基础资料。     

Community-based mental health care in Africa: mental health workers’ views

The World Health Organization (WHO) has for long proposed the development of community-based mental health services worldwide. However, the progress toward community mental health care in most African countries is still hampered by a lack of resources, with specialist psychiatric care essentially based in large, centrally located mental hospitals. It is again time to reconsider the direction of mental health care in Africa. Based on a small inquiry to a number of experienced mental health professionals in sub-Saharan Africa, we discuss what a community concept of mental health care might mean in Africa. There is a general agreement that mental health services should be integrated in primary health care. A critical issue for success of this model is perceived to be provision of appropriate supervision and continuing education for primary care workers. The importance of collaboration between modern medicine and traditional healers is stressed and the paper ends in a plea for WHO to take the initiative and develop mental health services according to the special needs and the socio-cultural conditions prevailing in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Circadian flight schedules in night-migrating birds caught on migration

Many species of migratory birds migrate in a series of solitary nocturnal flights. Between flights, they stop to rest and refuel for the next segment of their journey. The mechanism controlling this behaviour has long remained elusive. Here, we show that wild-caught migratory redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) are consistent in their flight scheduling. An advanced videographic system enabled us to determine the precise timing of flight activity in redstarts caught at a northern European stopover site during their return trip from Africa. Birds were held captive for three days in the absence of photoperiodic cues (constant dim light) and under permanent food availability. Despite the absence of external temporal cues, birds showed clear bimodal activity patterns: intense nocturnal activity alternating with diurnal foraging and resting periods. The onset of their migratory activity coincided with the time of local sunset and was individually consistent on consecutive nights. The data demonstrate that night-migrating birds are driven by autonomous circadian clocks entrained by sunset cues. This timekeeping system is probably the key factor in the overall control of nocturnal songbird migration.