A New Indicator for Global Food Security Assessment: Harvested Area Rather Than Cropland Area

Cropland area has long been used as a key indicator of food security.However,grain yield is not solely controlled by the area of the cropland.Therefore,we proposed a new indicator to assess food security.Results show that from 1992 to 2004,the global cropland area increased by 840200 km^(2)(99.4%),but the grain yield increased only by 310 million t(29.1%);and from 2004 to 2015,the cropland area decreased by 39000 km^(2)(4.64%),but the grain yield increased by 370 million t(70.84%).This result showed that grain yield was not linearly correlated with cropland area,and delimiting the threshold of cropland protection may not guarantee food security.Combined with further correlation analysis,we found that the increase in the global grain yield was more closely related to the harvested area(R^(2)=0.94),which indicated that the harvested area is a more scientific and accurate indicator than cropland area in terms of guaranteeing food security.Therefore,if governments want to ensure the food security,they should choose a new and more accurate indicator:harvested area rather than cropland area.

Supplementation of amylase combined with glucoamylase or protease changes intestinal microbiota diversity and benefits for broilers fed a diet of newly harvested corn

Background: The effect of amylases combined with exogenous carbohydrase and protease in a newly harvested corn diet on starch digestibility, intestine health and cecal microbiota was investigated in broiler chickens.Methods: Two hunderd and eighty-eight 5-day-old female chickens were randomly divided into six treatments: a newly harvested corn-soybean meal diet(control); control supplemented with 1,500 U/g α-amylase(Enzyme A);Enzyme A + 300 U/g amylopectase + 20,000 U/g glucoamylase(Enzyme B); Enzyme B + protease 10,000 U/g(Enzyme C); Enzyme C + xylanase 15,000 U/g(Enzyme D); and Enzyme D + cellulase 200 U/g + pectinase 1,000 U/g(Enzyme E). Growth performance, starch digestibility, digestive organ morphology, and intestinal microbiota were evaluated in the birds at 16 and 23 d of age.Results: Compared with the control diet, supplementation with Enzyme A significantly decreased ileum lesion scoring at 16 d of age(P < 0.05); supplementation with Enzyme B or Enzyme C showed positive effects on ileal amylopectin and total starch digestibility(P < 0.05); Broilers fed with a diet supplemented with Enzyme D had a tendency to decrease body weight gain at 23 d. Enzyme E supplementation improved lesion scoring of jejunum and ileum at 16 d(P < 0.05), and increased ileal amylopectin or total starch digestibility at 23 d(P < 0.05).Supplementation of enzymes changed cecal microbiota diversity. High numbers of Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Butyricicoccus, Anaerostipes and Bifidobacterium, Sutterella and Odoribacter were the main genera detected in supplementations with Enzymes B, C, D, and E respectively.Conclusions: Supplementation with amylase combined with glucoamylase or protease showed a beneficial effect on starch digestibility and intestinal microbiota diversity, and increased growth of broilers fed with newly harvested corn.

Analysis of Different Rare Metals, and Rare Earth Metals in Harvested Rain Water in Gaza Strip/Palestine by ICP/MS-Data and Health Aspects

This rain water samples harvested for drinking and agriculture from Gaza collected in November 2012 were analyzed for different rare metals (Rb, Zr, Ti, Tl, Sb, Sc, Y), and rare earth metals (La, and Ce). These metals usually have no maximum acceptable limits as there is no sufficient data about their toxicity to human health. Their control should be therefore controlled in water to monitor their concentration in water (ground, harvested, etc.). This study was conducted to determine the water quality of harvested water which is used for drinking in the study area. 43 water samples were collected in November 2012 during the first rain from house wells and rain water pools. The concentrations of the metals detected in the collected harvested rainwater vary significantly between the 43 samples, and all of them were detected in all water samples analyzed in this study. The results obtained from this study suggest a possible risk to the population of the study area given the high concentration of some metals that have no maximum allowed concentration, and the fact that for many people in the study area, harvested rain water is a main source of their water supply.

Fairness-Aware Harvested Energy Efficiency Algorithm for IRS-Aided Intelligent Sensor Networks with SWIPT

In this paper,a novel fairness-aware harvested energy efficiency-based green transmission scheme for wireless information and power transfer(SWIPT)aided sensor networks is developed for active beamforming of multiantenna transmitter and passive beamforming at intelligent reflecting surfaces(IRS).By optimizing the active beamformer assignment at the transmitter in conjunction with the passive beamformer assignment at the IRS,we aimtomaximize the minimumharvested energy efficiency among all the energy receivers(ER)where information receivers(IR)are bound to the signal-interference-noise-ratio(SINR)and the maximum transmitted power of the transmitter.To handle the non-convex problem,both semi-definite relaxation(SDR)and block coordinate descent technologies are exploited.Then,the original problem is transformed into two convex sub-problems which can be solved via semidefinite programming.Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the IRS and energy beamformer settings in this paper provide greater system gain than the traditional experimental setting,thereby improving the fairness-aware harvested energy efficiency of the ER.

Design of Wireless Energy-Harvested UHF WSN Tag for Cellular IoT

In this paper,a wireless energy-harvested ultra-high frequency(UHF)wireless sensor network(WSN)tag is designed and implemented for cellular Io T applications.The WSN tag is made up of a wireless energy harvesting circuit,a temperature sensing circuit,and a radio frequency identification(RFID)tag.The developed WSN tag is compatible with the ISO/IEC18000-6C protocol.The WSN tag can receive the GSM RF energy operating in China GSM900 and GSM1800 bands in the surrounding environment and the solar energy,then converts the RF energy to direct current(DC)by schottky diode-based rectifying circuit,and finally stores the DC energy in a supercapacitor through a DC-DC booster circuit.The DC-DC booster circuit drives the front-end circuit,TI MSP430 microcontroller,temperature sensing circuit,and other active circuits in the tag.The MSP430 works in low-power mode when it is powered up,and it can also reduce power consumption more by reducing main clock(MCLK)frequency according to different forward link rates.The implemented WSN tag demonstrated that the RF-to-DC conversion efficiency is higher than 39% when the receiving 900 MHz RF signal power is from -14 dBm to 0 dBm and could make the tag work normally.The signal receiving sensitivity of the WSN tag is up to-32 dBm at the rate of 40 kbit/s from the Reader to the WSN tag.The WSN tag supports Miller coding and extended Miller coding.This wireless energy harvested UHF WSN tag,compared with conventional UHF passive tags and battery-powered active UHF RFID Tags,has many advantages,such as far communication distance,long service life,and sensing functionality.It will have wide applications in the Internet of Things(IoT).

Reducing intimal hyperplasia in vein grafts harvested by a no-touch harvesting technique

Objective To investigate the effect of no-touch harvesting technique in reducing vein graft intimal hyperplasia. Methods This longitudinal trial compared graft angiostenosis of two groups undergoing jugular vein to carotid artery interposition grafting in rabbit model. Conventional group:12 rabbits had their veins stripped,distended,and stored in heparinized saline solution. No-touch group:12 rabbits had veins removed with surrounding tissues,but were not distended,and stored in heparinized blood. The grafts were removed 4 weeks following grafting,and morphometry and immunohistochemistry assessment were performed. Results The intimal thickness,degree of angiostenosis and proliferation index of vascular smooth muscle cells of no-touch group were significantly reduced (P<0.01) compared with those of the conventional group. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen positive-staining cells were significantly increased (P<0.01) in the conventional group compared with whose in the no-touch group. Conclusion Harvesting the vein graft with no-touch harvesting technique could significantly reduce intimal hyperplasia of the vein graft.

Mycoflora and Mycotoxicological Quality of Four Freshly Harvested Paddy Rice Cultivars and Relation with Harvest to Industry Reception Timing

Grain quality and safety of four freshly harvested paddy rice （Oryza sativa L.） cultivars （Epagri 109, SCS 114 Andosan, Tio Taka 113 and Epagri 115 CL） grown under irrigation system in the north of Santa Catarina State, Brazil were studied. The quality parameters evaluated were mycoflora, mycotoxins （aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone）, water distribution （moisture content and water activity） apart from environmental conditions （relative humidity and temperature） and the relation between harvest and the industry reception timing. All cultivars presented an average waiting time of 8.6 h （ranged from 0.3 to 24.9 h）, a total fungi load of 8.6x104 cfu/mL （ranged from 1.8x103 to 9.4x105 cfu/mL） with a rather high humidity condition of 19.0% moisture content （varied from 14.9% to 24.5%） and 0.92 water activity （varied from 0.78 to 0.99） under the average environmental conditions of 87.3% relative humidity （varied from 80.0% to 96.8%） and 25.4 ~C （varied from 22.5 to 27.5 ~C）, respectively. The conditions to which the samples were submitted allowed fungal growth, but no mycotoxins were detected. Regarding the rice cultivars fungal genera isolated, Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most often isolated among all the cultivars and variation on fungi distribution among them was not observed. Moreover, it was not found a correlation of the grain loading ＆ unloading time with the humidity conditions and the total fungi load. Furthermore, all results and the importance of monitoring the rice mycotoxicological quality and safety were discussed.

Quality of <i>Jatropha curcas</i>L. Seeds Harvested at Different Stages of Fruit Maturation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological quality of Jatropha curcas L. seeds harvested at different stages of fruit maturation and two threshing methods. To analyze the mechanical damage rate an experiment was carried out with five stages of fruit maturation (green, yellow, ripe, dried on the ground and dried on the plant) threshed mechanically and manually. To evaluate the physiological quality, three tests were made;germination, vigor and electrical conductivity, all of them were applied in each storage (0, 120 and 240 days after harvest) and five stages of fruit maturation. It was feasible to infer that the maturation stage of yellow, ripe and dried on the plant fruits showed the best results of the physiological quality of the Jatropha curcas L. seeds. The manual threshing is also recommended in order to preserve the physiological quality of Jatropha curcas L. seeds. When the fruits were harvested at the appropriate stage of maturation (yellow, ripe and dry fruit on the plant) and threshing without mechanical damage, the Jatropha curcas L. seeds are possible to store for 240 days without loss in their germination. Regardless of the threshing system and the maturation stage, the seeds of Jatropha curcas L. lost their vigor from 120 days after harvested, when these seeds were stored in the shadow and in an environment without control on the relative humidity and air temperature.

Sustainable Water Supply for Domestic Use： Application of Roof-Harvested Water for Ground Water Recharge

Rain water harvesting offers a wealth of promising possibilities for many countries. This paper describes a study in which rainwater harvested from the rooftop is used for recharging groundwater in a household well in Ibadan. A rainwater harvesting structure was designed to be 1.2 m deep, 2.6 m long and 0.66 m wide, filled with gravel and fine sand at different layers. Rainwater harvested in a storage tank is passed with the aid of a hose pipe to the rainwater harvesting structure on a daily basis to recharge the groundwater in the well. A well in the neighborhood serves as control for this experiment, which went on for a month. The volume of rainwater used to recharge the groundwater in the well was recorded daily for the study period. The results indicated that using rainwater to recharge the groundwater in the well led to conservation of the water in the well through reduced evaporation. Thus, the well yields water all the year round as compared to the control well that dries up during the dry season.

Estimation of annual harvested runoff at Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan region of Iraq

Kurdistan Region (KR) of Iraq has suffered from the drought period during the seasons 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 that affected the human and economic activities of the region. Macro rainwater harvesting (Macro RWH) is one of the techniques that can ensure water availability for a region having limited water resources. This technique is based on Soil Conservation ServiceCurve Number (SCS-CN) method and the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) was used to estimate the runoff. Rainfall records of Sulaymaniyah area for the period 2002-2012 were studied and an average season was selected (2010-2011). The results of the application of the WMS model showed that about 10.76 million cubic meters could be harvested. The results also showed that the quantity of the harvested runoff was highly affected by rainfall depth, curve number values, antecedent moisture conditions (AMC) and the area of the basins.

Dynamic Analysis of an Algae-Fish Harvested Model with Allee Effect

In this paper, an algae-fish harvested model with Allee effect was established to further explore the dynamic evolution mechanism under the influence of key factors. Mathematical theoretical work not only investigated the existence and stability of all possible equilibrium points, but also probed into the occurrence of transcritical and Hopf bifurcation. The numerical simulation works verified the effectiveness of the theoretical derivation results and displayed rich bifurcation dynamical behaviors, which showed that Allee effect and harvest have played a vital role in the dynamic relationship between algae and fish. In summary, it was expected that these research results would be beneficial for promoting the study of bifurcation dynamics in aquatic ecosystems.

Optimizing bone marrow harvesting sites for enhanced mesenchymal stem cell yield and efficacy in knee osteoarthritis treatment

Knee osteoarthritis(OA)is a debilitating condition with limited long-term treatment options.The therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs),particularly those derived from bone marrow aspirate concentrate,has garnered attention for cartilage repair in OA.While the iliac crest is the traditional site for bone marrow harvesting(BMH),associated morbidity has prompted the exploration of alternative sites such as the proximal tibia,distal femur,and proximal humerus.This paper reviews the impact of different harvesting sites on mesenchymal stem cell(MSC)yield,viability,and regenerative potential,emphasizing their relevance in knee OA treatment.The iliac crest consistently offers the highest MSC yield,but alternative sites within the surgical field of knee procedures offer comparable MSC characteristics with reduced morbidity.The integration of harvesting techniques into existing knee surgeries,such as total knee arthroplasty,provides a less invasive approach while maintaining thera-peutic efficacy.However,variability in MSC yield from these alternative sites underscores the need for further research to standardize techniques and optimize clinical outcomes.Future directions include large-scale comparative studies,advanced characterization of MSCs,and the development of personalized harvesting strategies.Ultimately,the findings suggest that optimizing the site of BMH can significantly influence the quality of MSC-based therapies for knee OA,enhancing their clinical utility and patient outcomes.

Contamination of Harvested Organs in Root Crops Grown on Chlordecone-Polluted Soils

Chlordecone, one of the most persistent organochlorine pesticides, was applied between 1972 and 1993 in banana fields in the French West Indies, which results in long-term pollution of soils and contamination of waters, aquatic biota, and crops. As human exposure to chlordecone is mainly due to food contamination, early research was focused on chlordecone transfer to crops. Field trials were conducted to investigate chlordecone contamination of yam, sweet potato, turnip, and radish grown on a Ferralic Nitisol polluted by chlordecone. We also carried out trials on yam, courgette, and tomato under greenhouse conditions with homogenized Andosol and Nitisol, polluted by chlordecone to various extents. Our results indicated that i) all tubers were contaminated in accordance with the chlordecone content of the soils; ii) the plant contamination capacity of the Nitisol was greater than that of the Andosol; and iii) whatever the soil type, tuber contamination was related to the soil volumetric content of dissolved chlordecone. Nevertheless, no tubers showed sufficient chlordecone uptake for efficient soil decontamination by means of plant extraction. Soil contact accounted for most of the root crop contamination, which was inversely proportional to the tuber size. Internal transfer might also increase root crop contamination when the root central cylinder contained raw sap flow, as in the case of turnip or radish. Courgette fruits showed high contamination without soil contact. Thus, further research is needed to explore the pattern of both below- and aboveground plant chlordecone contamination and assess the hypothesis of its correlation with sap flow. Finally, we used our results to build a decisionmaking tool for farmers, relating soil pollution with the maximal contamination of the harvested organs to predict crop contamination and thus assisting farmers in making crop choices at planting in order to conform with the European Union's regulations.

Incorporating carbon sink of harvested wood products into ecological footprint accounting:model and case study

Ecological footprint(EF)accounting system is widely used in assessing environmental sustainability at various spatial scales.To improve the EF performance,a new EF calculation framework was established in this study,in which HWP is considered as carbon sinks and the model was then applied to the Yangtze River basin of China.Results showed that(1)carbon sink in the basin is about 2.99 Tg per year and it varies substantially across subbasins,which has a nonlinear relationship with net primary productivity;(2)available biocapacity calculated in the whole basin increases from 0.5068 to 0.5759 national ha(nha)per capita when incorporating the carbon sinks.In a few subbasins,the added biocapacity is even larger than the biocapacity estimated from the conventional approach;(3)the EF of the basin is 5.598 nha per capita and it is much larger than its biological carrying capacity(BC),indicating that ecological deficit is ubiquitous across the basin.If carbon sinks are considered,the ecological deficit would decrease by 3.2–14.3%for different regions in the basin.It is necessary to incorporate HWP and other potential terrestrial carbon sinks in the EF accounting,and more efforts are needed in improving carbon sink accuracy.

STUDY ON HARVESTED POPULATION WITH DIFFUSIONAL MIGRATION

This paper is devoted to the study of the dynamical behavior and harvesting problem of an exploited population with diffusional migration, for which a protective patch is established. We examine the effects of protective patch and harvest on the population resources and conclude that the protective patch is effective for the conservation of population resources and ecological environment, though in some cases the extinction can not be eliminated. The dangerous region, the parameters domains and the typical bifurcation curves of stability of steady states for the considered system are determined. The optimal harvest policy for the considered population is made also. The explicit expressions are obtained for the optimal harvesting effort, the maximum sustainable yield and the corre- sponding population density. Our results provide a theoretical evidence for the practical management of biological resources.

Evaluation of grain breakage sensitivity of maize varieties mechanically-harvested by combine harvester

A high grain breakage rate is the main problem that occurs during mechanical maize harvest in China.The breakage sensitivity of different varieties was significantly different,and the breakage resistance is heritable.Therefore,breakage resistant variety screening can help improve the field production efficiency and provide references for breeding work.In this study,42 varieties of maize were harvested with the same mechanical parameters and the same manipulator on a range of harvest dates at experimental stations in Xinxiang,Henan Province,in 2017 and Changji,Xinjiang Province,in 2018 to determine the sensitivity of grain moisture content on grain breakage rate during machine harvest for different varieties.The integral value of the grain breakage rate curve corresponding to the range of 15%to 30%grain moisture content was used as an index that expressed the sensitivity of maize grains to breakage depending on grain moisture content(BSW).Forty-two varieties were categorized as having weak,intermediate,or strong BSW.Among the same four varieties in the two stations,Lianchuang 825 and Lianchuang 808 were classified as sensitive and fragile varieties,Shandan 650 was classified as an intermediate variety,Zeyu 8911 was divided into weak sensitive and breakage-resistance varieties in Xinxiang and intermediate varieties in Changji.The BSW classification results at the two experimental sites were generally consistent,indicating that breakage sensitivity due to moisture content may be a relatively stable genetic characteristic.This study suggested that the integral method for determining BSW can be used to assess the resistance of different maize varieties to grain breakage during mechanical harvesting.The integral method was used to identify twelve breakage-resistant varieties in Xinxiang Station,and six breakage-resistant varieties in Changji Station.This study provides a method for screening maize varieties that are suited to mechanical grain harvesting and for studying the mechanisms of grain breakage resistance.

In-field harvest loss of mechanically-harvested maize grain and affecting factors in China

Field harvest loss is a common problem of maize grain mechanical harvesting in China and abroad.From 2012 to 2019,2987 groups of samples for the quality of mechanical grain harvesting in field were obtained in 21 major maize-producing provinces,cities,and regions of China.The analysis performed in this study showed that the average harvest loss of fallen ears was equivalent to 76.5%of the total harvest loss,indicating that the harvest loss in the mechanical harvesting of maize grain mainly came from the loss of fallen ears.Meanwhile,statistical analysis of the harvest loss in different ranges of grain moisture contents showed that,when the grain moisture content fell below 20%,the harvest loss rate of fallen ears and the total harvest loss rate both increased sharply,and the harvest loss of fallen ears increased faster than the harvest loss of fallen grain with a decreasing grain moisture content.Moreover,the results of multi-point experiments and harvest experiments in different periods showed that,during harvesting time,the harvest loss of fallen ears caused by lodging was the main reason for in-field harvest losses in the mechanical harvesting of maize grain.Apart from the above mentioned,the test results of 35 groups of harvesters for the in-field mechanical harvesting of maize grain showed that the harvester types and their operating parameters were important factors affecting the harvest loss in the mechanical harvesting of maize grain.Therefore,the principal paths to reduce harvest loss in the mechanical harvesting of maize grain are to breed lodging-resistant maize varieties,adopt reasonable planting densities,cultivate healthy plants,develop harvesters with low harvesting loss,intensify the training of operators,and harvest at an appropriate time.

Analysis of a harvested tritrophic food chain model in the presence of additional food for top predator

In this paper, we propose and analyze a three-species predator prey system in the presence of additional food for top predator. It is assumed that the middle predator is acting as a prey as well as a predator and the top predator consumes both prey as well as middle predator. It is also considered that a constant amount of additional food for top predator exists in the ecosystem. The effects of harvesting of top predator are investigated. The existence and stability conditions of the equilibria have been discussed analytically. The Hopf bifurcation analysis of the system with respect to predation rate of prey to the top predator and the harvesting effort have been analyzed both analytically and numerically. Pontryagin＇s maximum principle is used to determine the optimal harvesting of top predator population to maximize the discounted net revenue. From our analysis, it is seen that the additional food has a significant impact to prevent the extinction risk of top predator population and also to increase revenue collection. Finally, some numerical results have been given in support of our analytical findings.

Development of sorting methods based on physical and aerodynamic properties of off-ground harvested almonds

This research was conducted to develop an effective approach to sort off-ground harvested almonds for efficient drying based on their physical and aerodynamic properties.Three popular varieties were studied,including Nonpareil,Monterey,and Fritz.The insect damage,axial dimensions,weight ratio,moisture content,bulk density and terminal velocity of in-hull almonds,in-shell almonds and loose hull at harvest were measured.The results indicated that the insect infestation percentage in the off-ground harvested almonds ranged from 2.5%to 6.3%,which was about half of those in the conventional on-ground dried almonds.Loose hulls and in-hull almonds had higher moisture content and wider moisture distribution than those of in-shell almonds,suggesting that sorting of the almonds and drying them separately are necessary for efficient handling and processing.Thickness was the smallest axial dimension of an almond,and thus could be used for sorting.The cut-off sizes of 16.5 mm,21.3 mm and 21.1 mm could separate 100%of the in-shell almonds from the rest for Nonpareil,Monterey and Fritz varieties,respectively,as the first step.In the second step,applying terminal velocities of 12.3 m/s,11.8 m/s and 12.2 m/s could efficiently separate the in-hull almonds and loose hulls for Nonpareil,Monterey and Fritz varieties,respectively.Overall,up to 76.7%of the loose hulls could be removed,and up to 3.3%in-hull almonds may be lost during the sorting process.The experimental results provided important information for developing efficient sorting and drying methods with improved throughput,energy efficiency,better quality and safety of off-ground harvested almonds.

Autologous bone graft harvested during implant site preparation: histological study

Aim:The bone particles harvested during osteotomy could be used as autogenous bone graft materials to correct a bony defect prior to implant placement.Methods:A simple surgical procedure was described in which autogenous bone was harvested from the drills during the preparation of implant sites.Eleven samples were obtained from bone drilling duringfixture installation in 11 patients(5 men and 6 women)with an average age of 57 years.These samples were subjected to histological preparation,in order to evaluate for the presence of viable osteoblasts.Results:Histological evaluation of the samples suggested that the viability of the bone tissue was maintained.Conclusion:The results show that this method of harvesting autogenous bone may be useful in situations where small amounts of bone are required.