Evaluation of Agricultural Contamination Level by Heavy Metals and Pesticides in Sediments of Rivers and Water Bodies for Shrimp Fishing in the Lower Ouémé: Case of the Aguigadji, Ahlan and Sele Stations in Benin

This study assessed sediment contamination by heavy metals and pesticide active ingredients linked to chemical inputs used in agricultural activities in the lower Ouémé. Pesticide residues from the organochlorine, pyrethroid and organophosphorus families were investigated by gas chromatography, and heavy metals (Cd, Pb, As, Ni, Zn, Fe, Mg, Cr and Hg) by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The metallic pollution indices, the contamination factor (CF) and the ecological risk index were calculated. The results revealed 8 active ingredients in the rainy season and 9 in the dry season. Glyphosate was the active ingredient with the highest concentration at all stations, 9.65 ± 0.84 mg/kg recorded in the dry season at the Aguigadji station. All glyphosate values were above the EQS. DDT, Atrazine and Endosulfan also showed high concentrations in the dry and rainy seasons. Emamectin, Abamectin and Lambda Cyhalothrin also showed high concentrations in the dry season at Aguigadji, Ahlan and Sele. Only glyphosate was recorded at the control station (Toho), but in very low concentrations. Lead showed the highest concentrations at all the stations, 265.96 ± 21.02 mg/Kg in the rainy season and 255.38 ± 79.09 mg/Kg in the dry season, all detected at the Aguigadji station and above the EQS. Zn, Ni, Fe, Cu and Cr were all representative in both the dry and rainy seasons at the contaminated stations. Manganese showed high concentrations in the rainy season. Pb showed very high contamination (FC ≥ 6) at the Aguigadji and Ahlan stations and significant contamination (3 ≤ FC 6) at the Sele station in both the rainy and dry seasons. Ni, Hg and Cd, showed either moderate or significant contamination at the contaminated stations. The risk values showed a considerable ecological Ri (190 ≤ Ri < 380) in the rainy season and a moderate ecological Ri (95 ≤ Ri < 190) in the dry season at these contaminated stations.

A Comparative Study of Fish Assemblages Near Aquaculture, Artificial and Natural Habitats

Habitat plays a critical role in regulating fish community structure. Using the data collected from a monthly trammel net survey in Ma'an archipelago off the east coast of China, we evaluated impacts of five different habitats(artificial reefs, mussel farms, cage aquaculture, rocky reefs and soft bottom) on fish assemblages. This study suggests that artificial reefs(AR) have significantly higher species richness, abundance and diversity than mussel farms(MF) or soft bottom(SB) habitats during most seasons, and that fish taxa in the AR habitats are similar to those in the rocky reef(RR) habitats. Two different fish assemblage patterns were revealed in the study area using non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination: an assemblage dominated by reef fishes(especially by Scorpaenidae species) in AR, RR and cage aquaculture(CA) habitats and an assemblage dominated by Sciaenidae species in MF and SB habitats. We suggest that reef fishes play a key role in differentiating fish community structures in the study area. Although few differences in fish abundance and diversity were found between the CA and SB habitats, a more diverse age structure was observed in the CA habitats. A much more complex fish assemblage and enhanced population of local species were established as a result of the presence of both floating and fixed artificial structures, probably through improved survival rates.

高密度流水养鱼(Flowing Water Fish Culture)新技术研究

本文从鱼场选择和建池规格要求、降低饵料系数以及鱼病的防治几方面介绍了高密度流水养鱼新技术。

Tidal Flushing Time of Marine Fish Culture Zones in Hong Kong

Accurate determination of flushing time is crucial for maintaining sustainable production in fish culture zones （FCZs）, as it represents the physical self-purification capability via tidal exchange with clean water in the outer sea. However, owing to the temporal and spatial complexity of the coastal flushing process, existing methods for determining flushing time may not be generally applicable. In this paper, a systematic method for determining the flushing time in FCZs is presented, in which bathymetry, runoff, tidal range and stratification are properly accounted for. We determine the flushing time via numerical tracer experiments, using robust 3D hydrodynamic and mass transport models. For FCZs located in sheltered and land-locked tidal inlets, the system boundary can be naturally defined at the connection with the open sea. For FCZs located in open＇waters, hydrodynamic tracking is first used to assess the extent of tidal excursion and thus delimit the initial boundary between clean water and polluted water. This general method is applied to all designated marine FCZs in Hong Kong for both the dry and wet seasons, including 20 sheltered FCZs （in semi-enclosed waters of Tolo Harbour, Mirs Bay, and Port Shelter） and 6 FCZs in open waters. Our results show that flushing time is the longest in inner Port Shelter （about 40 days in dry season）, and the shortest for the FCZs in open waters （less than one week in dry season）. In addition, the flushing time in dry season is commonly longer than that in wet season： 20%~40% for most well-sheltered FCZs; 2.6-4 times for the others. Our results indicate a positive correlation between the flushing time and distance to open boundary, supporting the view that the flushing time of a FCZ is closely related to its location. This study provides a solid basis for mariculture management such as the determination of carrying capacity of FCZs.

Preparation of lactic acid bacteria compound starter cultures based on pasting properties and its improvement of glutinous rice flour and dough

The effects of 5 lactic acid bacteria(LAB)fermentation on the pasting properties of glutinous rice flour were compared,and suitable fermentation strains were selected based on the changes of viscosity,setback value,and breakdown value to prepare LAB compound starter cultures.The results revealed that Latilactobacillus sakei HSD004 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HSD005 had apparent advantages in increasing the viscosity and reducing the setback and breakdown values of glutinous rice flour.In particular,the compound starter created using the two abovementioned LAB in the ratio of 3:1 had better performance than that using a single LAB in improving the pasting properties and increasing the water and oil absorption capacity of glutinous rice flour.Moreover,the gelatinization enthalpy of the fermented samples increased significantly.For frozen glutinous rice dough stored for 28 days,the viscoelasticity of frozen dough prepared by compound starter was better than that of control dough,and the freezable water content was lower than that of control dough.These results indicate that compound LAB fermentation is a promising technology in the glutinous rice-based food processing industry,which has significance for its application.

Anticancer Activity of Rice Callus Suspension Cultures from Aromatic Varieties and Metabolites Regulated in Treated Cancer Cell Lines

Tissue culture techniques were used to produce large amounts of bioactive compounds with medicinal potential, overcoming space and time constraints for cancer prevention. Rice callus suspension cultures(RCSC) and seed extracts prepared from aromatic rice varieties were used to evaluate the cytotoxic impact on human colon and lung cancer cell lines, as well as a normal control cell line, using Taxol as a positive control. RCSC and seed extracts from two Indian aromatic rice varieties were applied at different concentrations to treat the cancer cell lines and normal lung fibroblasts over varying time intervals. Apoptosis was assessed in 1:5 dilutions of the A549 and HT-29 cell lines treated with RCSC for 72 h, using propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. RCSC showed a more potent cytotoxic effect than seed extracts with minimal effect on the normal cell line, in contrast to Taxol. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry further confirmed the apoptotic effect of RCSC. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolic profiling identified metabolites involved in cytotoxicity and highlighted altered pathways. RCSC is proposed as an alternative source for the development of novel anticancer drugs with reduced side effects.

Investigation of the Acceptability of Cultured Meat in University Students

Background: Over the past 20 years, cultured meat has drawn a lot of public attention as a potential solution to issues with animal husbandry, including inadequate use of natural sources, improper animal welfare practices, and possible risks to public health and safety. The novel method of producing meat through culture reduces the need for animals to produce muscle fiber, thereby obviating the necessity for animal slaughter. Apart from its ethical advantages, cultured meat presents a possible way to fulfill the expanding need for food among growing populations. The purpose of this research was to find out whether Turkish students would be willing to pay for and accept cultured meat. Technique: Method: 371 university students who willingly consented to fill out a questionnaire and provide demographic data make up the research sample. Questions from previous studies on the acceptability of cultured meat were compiled to create the survey. The research’s data collection took place in March and April of 2022. The research was completed in June 2022 after the data had been processed and analyzed. Results: The results showed that the majority of participants were female and had omnivorous eating habits. Based on the results of the Bonferroni correction test, students with a higher intention to purchase and consume cultured meat were those who received economics and business education. Students with two years of university education had a higher overall survey score than those with four years of education (p < 0.05). Furthermore, it is discovered that there is a negative correlation between the participants’ ages and their Factor 2 (using cultured meat as an alternative to industrial meat) and Factor 3 (consuming and purchasing it) section points (r = -109, p = 0.036) (r = -0.121, p = 0.019). In conclusion, university students generally have a negative outlook on health-related issues, such as eating cultured meat as an alternative.

A Method Based on Knowledge Distillation for Fish School Stress State Recognition in Intensive Aquaculture

Fish behavior analysis for recognizing stress is very important for fish welfare and production management in aquaculture.Recent advances have been made in fish behavior analysis based on deep learning.However,most existing methods with top performance rely on considerable memory and computational resources,which is impractical in the real-world scenario.In order to overcome the limitations of these methods,a new method based on knowledge distillation is proposed to identify the stress states of fish schools.The knowledge distillation architecture transfers additional inter-class information via a mixed relative loss function,and it forces a lightweight network(GhostNet)to mimic the soft probabilities output of a well-trained fish stress state recognition network(ResNeXt101).The fish school stress state recognition model’s accuracy is improved from 94.17%to 98.12%benefiting from the method.The proposed model has about 5.18 M parameters and requires 0.15 G FLOPs(floating-point operations)to process an image of size 224×224.Furthermore,fish behavior images are collected in a land-based factory,and a dataset is constructed and extended through flip,rotation,and color jitter augmentation techniques.The proposed method is also compared with other state-of-the-art methods.The experimental results show that the proposed model is more suitable for deployment on resource-constrained devices or real-time applications,and it is conducive for real-time monitoring of fish behavior.

The Philosophy of He(和):Examined from the Perspectives of Technology and Culture

Pre-modern Chinese crafts,such as iron smelting,cookery,medicine,and the production of vehicles,bows,and arrows indicate the traditional Chinese view of technology as being organic,holistic,and comprehensive.This view of technology is guided by the concept of he(和)and employs the means and methods of he,thus achieving the purport of he.In Chinese,the character he(和)possesses positive connotations.It originated from the meaning of"to season;to add flavoring to"(调和)and that of flavors being"perfectly harmonious"(和美).From this sensory experience,he gradually extended to the abstract levels of materiality,humanity,sociality,"order"(wei位),and "power,situation,force"(shi势).Finally,he was elevated to the supreme level of"qi of great harmony"(taihe zhi qi太和之气),which is comparable to the concept of dao(道).The philosophy of he has exerted wide impact on such areas as technology,art,national character,cultural psychology,and behavior patterns,and has become an integral part of China's inherent culture.The paradoxes and deviations of he hold their own profound philosophical implications that merit further exploration.As humanity confronts significant challenges,such as how we can coexist with others,with technology,and with nature,the ancient Eastern wisdom embodied in he continues to possess practical characteristics and value.

Effects of Different Culture Conditions and Growth States on the Structure and Hemostatic Properties of Coscinodiscus sp.

As a renewable marine inorganic material,Coscinodiscus sp.has significant potential in the field of rapid hemostasis.However,the low yield of Coscinodiscus sp.seriously limits the application.In this study,two new culture modes were adopted to increase the production of Coscinodiscus sp.,the effect of changes in culture conditions and growth status on the hemostatic activity of diatoms was detected.To prevent Coscinodiscus sp.from sinking in culture,the suspension culture mode was realized by adding0.5%agar.The semi-continuous high nutrient concentration culture mode increased the cell density of Coscinodiscus sp.to 11000cells mL^(-1)and shorten the culture cycle to 5 d.In terms of coagulation activity,the addition of frustules reduced the in vitro coagulation time by half and the activation time of coagulation by 70%.The hemolysis rate and cytotoxicity of frustules harvested in the two culture modes did not change significantly.The results showed that suspension culture mode and high nutrient concentration culture mode only changed the growth state of Coscinodiscus sp.,while the hemostatic performance remained stable.

Impact of Rice-Catfish/Shrimp Co-culture on Nutrients Fluxes Across Sediment-Water Interface in Intensive Aquaculture Ponds

Exchange of nitrogen and phosphorus across sediment-water interface plays an important role in the management of nutrient recycling in the aquaculture pond. In this study, a plot experiment was conducted to study the effect of rice-catfish/shrimp co-culture on the micro-profile of oxygen (O2), pH and nutrient exchange across sediment-water interface in the intensive culture ponds. The results showed that rice-catfish co-culture increased the concentration and penetrating depth of O2, but decreased the pH value across the sediment-water interface, compared with catfish monoculture. Additional rice cultivation significantly reduced the flux rates of ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) across sediment-water interface in the catfish and shrimp ponds. The flux rates of NO2 - and soluble phosphorus (PO43-) showed no significant difference between rice-catfish/shrimp co-culture ponds and catfish/shrimp monoculture ponds. Rice only affected the dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus fractions in the sediment. The concentrations of NH4 + were significantly lower in the sediment of co-culture ponds than in the monoculture ponds. Additional rice cultivation also significantly reduced the content and percentage of dissolved inorganic phosphorus in the sediment of catfish ponds.

Current status and challenges for cell-cultured milk technology: a systematic review

Cellular agriculture is an innovative technology for manufacturing sustainable agricultural products as an alternative to traditional agriculture.While most cellular agriculture is predominantly centered on the production of cultured meat,there is a growing demand for an understanding of the production techniques involved in dairy products within cellular agriculture.This review focuses on the current status of cellular agriculture in the dairy sector and technical challenges for cell-cultured milk production.Cellular agriculture technology in the dairy sector has been classified into fermentation-based and animal cell culture-based cellular agriculture.Currently,various companies synthesize milk components through precision fermentation technology.Nevertheless,several startup companies are pursuing animal cell-based technology,driven by public concerns regarding genetically modified organisms in precision fermentation technology.Hence,this review offers an up-to-date exploration of animal cell-based cellular agriculture to produce milk components,specifically emphasizing the structural,functional,and productive aspects of mammary epithelial cells,providing new information for industry and academia.

Effects of Rice-Fish Co-culture on Oxygen Consumption in Intensive Aquaculture Pond

Rice-fish co-culture has gained increasing attention to remediate the negative environmental impacts induced by intensive aquaculture. However, the effect of rice-fish co-culture on oxygen depletion has rarely been investigated. We constructed a rice-fish co-culture system in yellow catfish(Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) and freshwater shrimp(Macrobrachium nipponense) ponds using a new high-stalk rice variety, and conducted a field experiment to investigate the effect of rice-fish co-culture on water parameters and oxygen consumption. The results showed that rice-fish co-culture reduced the nutrients(total nitrogen, ammonia-N, total phosphorous and potassium) and the dissolved oxygen content in fish and shrimp ponds. However, they showed similar seasonal change of dissolved oxygen in the water of fish and shrimp ponds. Rice-fish co-culture reduced the total amount of oxygen consumption and optimized the oxygen consumption structure in pond. The respiration rates in water and sediment were significantly reduced by 66.1% and 31.7% in the catfish pond, and 64.4% and 38.7% in the shrimp pond, respectively, by additional rice cultivation. Rice-fish co-culture decreased the proportions of respiration in sediment and water, and increased the proportion of fish respiration. These results suggest that rice-fish co-culture is an efficient way to reduce hypoxia in intensive culture pond.

MACS-W:A modified optical clearing agent for imaging 3D cell cultures

Three-dimensional(3D)cell cultures have contributed to a variety of biological research fields by filling the gap between monolayers and animal models.The modern optical sectioning microscopic methods make it possible to probe the complexity of 3D cell cultures but are limited by the inherent opaqueness.While tissue optical clearing methods have emerged as powerful tools for investigating whole-mount tissues in 3D,they often have limitations,such as being too harsh for fragile 3D cell cultures,requiring complex handling protocols,or inducing tissue deformation with shrinkage or expansion.To address this issue,we proposed a modified optical clearing method for 3D cell cultures,called MACS-W,which is simple,highly efficient,and morphology-preserving.In our evaluation of MACS-W,we found that it exhibits excellent clearing capability in just 10 min,with minimal deformation,and helps drug evaluation on tumor spheroids.In summary,MACS-W is a fast,minimally-deformative and fluorescence compatible clearing method that has the potential to be widely used in the studies of 3D cell cultures.

Happiness and harmony through health culture diplomacy as integrative maternal-child health nursing

For this editorial,our colleague Dr.Naeema Hasan Al Qasseer,former World Health Organization(WHO)Senior Scientist of Nursing and Midwifery joins me to add her wisdom and experience on the topic of integrative maternal-child health nursing.

Comparative Study of the Widal Test against Stool Culture in the Diagnosis of Suspected Cases of Typhoid Fever in Some Low Income Communities in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon

Introduction: Infectious diseases constitute a major concern of public health in developing countries. Facilities and well trained staff have been shown to be one of the major obstacles in the rapid and quality diagnosis of these diseases. As such, we carried out an analysis to compare the Widal test and stool culture to identify febrile patients with Salmonella infection. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted to diagnose salmonella infection with out-patients who demonstrated signs of salmonella infection. Serum was harvested from blood collected from 368 (Vina = 234, Mayo Banyo 65, and Djerem = 69) patients accompanied by stool, Widal test was conducted on the spot and stool was taken to a reference laboratory for culture using standard microbiological methods, sociological set up was calculated in percentages, prevalence was calculated using excel while statistical difference was calculated using SPSS. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated to compare the Widal test against stool culture. Results: A total of 368 (50.8% females and 49.2% males) participants took part in the survey. Salmonella prevalence (66.24%) in stool culture in the Vina division was significantly different (p 0.05). The sensitivity,specificity, PPV, and NPV of slide agglutination test against stool culture varied from different areas (Vina: 51.6%, 73.62%, 79.21% and 43.61%;Mayo Banyo: 60.53%, 77.78%, 79.31% and 58.33%;Djerem: 53.18%, 83.73% 73.91% and 67.39%) respectively. Slide agglutination test has a fair agreement with the stool culture (kappa, Vina = 0.202;Mayo Banyo = 0.37 and Djerem = 0.38). Conclusion: Generally, in the three areas of study, the Widal test had a fair correlation with the stool culture;This means the Widal test should not be used alone but in combination with stool culture in the detection of salmonella infections.

Efficacy of serum-free cultured human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis in mice

BACKGROUND We investigated the efficacy of intra-articular injection of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells(hUC-MSCs)for the treatment of osteoarthritis(OA)progression in the knee joint.Although many experimental studies of hUC-MSCs have been published,these studies have mainly used fetal bovine serumcontaining cultures of hUC-MSCs;serum-free cultures generally avoid the shortcomings of serum-containing cultures and are not subject to ethical limitations,have a wide range of prospects for clinical application,and provide a basis or animal experimentation for clinical experiments.AIM To study the therapeutic effects of serum-free hUC-MSCs(N-hUCMSCs)in a mouse model of knee OA.METHODS Fifty-five male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into six groups:The blank control group,model control group,serum-containing hUC-MSCs(S-hUCMSC)group,N-hUCMSC group and hyaluronic acid(HA)group.After 9 weeks of modeling,the serum levels of interleukin(IL)-1β and IL-1 were determined.Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the cartilage tissue,and the Mankin score was determined.Immunohistochemistry and western blotting were used to determine the expression of collagen type II,matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-1 and MMP-13.RESULTS The Mankin score and serum IL-1 and IL-1β and cartilage tissue MMP-1 and MMP-13 expression were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the blank control group(P<0.05).Collagen II expression in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the blank control group(P<0.05).The Mankin score and serum IL-1 and IL-1β and cartilage tissue MMP-1 and MMP-13 levels the experimental group were lower than those in the model control group(P<0.05).Collagen II expression in the experimental group was significantly greater than that in the model control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION N-hUCMSC treatment significantly alleviate the pathological damage caused by OA.The treatment effects of the ShUCMSC group and HA group were similar.

Historiography and Scientific Research of Religious Buildings of the Cucuteni-Trypillian Culture

The purpose of this article is to reveal the historiography and current state of research related to the cult buildings of the Eneolithic period of the Cucuteni-Trypillian cultural community.The article describes the historical path of archaeological discoveries,from the first Trypillian sanctuaries to the discovery of the largest Nebelivka temple complex in Ukraine in 2012.At the same time,the work partially raises the issue of religious beliefs of the ancient farmers of Central Europe in connection with the discovery of their sacred buildings.Since special scientific works have not comprehensively addressed this issue and are still fragmentary in nature,it is important at the present stage of research to make some coverage and systematization of existing materials on this issue.

Tourism Mode of Tea Culture Museum in Guizhou:A Case Study of Meitan Modern Tea Culture Museum Settlement

Since the 14 th Five-Year Plan,tea culture has become very popular.However,due to the lack of brand awareness and overall planning,and the mechanical application of the model outside the province and other tourism products,Guizhou Tea Culture Tourism presents a"strong tea,light culture,weak tourism".In view of this,in order to realize the positioning goal of"building a national demonstration zone for the integration of tea culture and tourism"in the 14 th Five-Year Plan of Guizhou tea industry,and explore the development mode of integration of tea culture and tourism with Guizhou characteristics,this study takes museum tourism as the breakthrough point,Meitan Tea Museum settlement as the research object,and collects Meitan Tea Museum tourism resources.This paper uses SWOT analysis to evaluate the Meitan Tea Culture Museum Tourism model,and provides some recommendations for the development of tea culture museum tourism in Guizhou Province.

AIGC Related Context: A New Communication Culture For Human

The emergence and rapid development of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content(AIGC)technology is revolutionizing human communication and cultural landscapes.This paper explores the impact of AIGC on society,identifying three distinct cultural paradigms:AIGC Blended Culture,AIGC Based Culture,and AIGC Polluted Culture.AIGC Blended Culture represents a synergistic collaboration between AI and human creativity,enhancing content creation efficiency,promoting cross-cultural communication,and enriching human experiences.AIGC Based Culture signifies a shift where AI becomes the core driver of cultural production and dissemination.This leads to innovative cultural industry models,expanded development fields,and improved cultural product quality and diversity.However,AIGC Polluted Culture arises from the misuse of AIGC to produce or disseminate harmful content.The paper proposes countermeasures and recommendations to maximize the benefits of AIGC while mitigating potential risks.This involves fostering collaboration between AI and humans,focusing on talent cultivation,establishing and improving laws and regulations,and developing solutions to detect and mitigate harmful content.Additionally,promoting responsible innovation and ethical AI development is crucial.In conclusion,AIGC represents a transformative force reshaping human communication and culture.While offering immense opportunities for innovation and efficiency,it also presents challenges that require careful consideration and proactive measures to ensure its positive and sustainable impact on society.