Fenlong Cultivation-the Fourth Set of Farming Methods Invented in China

The basic theory and effect of the new farming method of ＂Fenlong＂ cultivation which has been included in the main extension technology of Ministry of Agriculture of the People＇s Republic of China is fully illustrated for the first time, and it is the fourth set （generation） of farming modes and methods following manpower, animal and mechanical （tractor） farming. It follows the natural law to achieve soil activation, water saving, oxygen increase, warming and desalination through the active use of natural resources like soil, rainfall and solar energy, thereby promoting a new round of natural agricultural production and quality improvement and water con- servation, which has crop yield increase by 10%-30%, quality improvement of 5%, natural precipitation retaining increase by100%. The characteristics and mechanism are the use of spiral drill for one-time completion of the land preparation by drilling vertically to 30-50 cm of soil layer through high speed peeling. After instant high temperature and many fierce impacts, mechanical frictions, it could achieve the multiplication of the number of loose soil, soil physical modification and expansion of the soil nutrients, reservoirs, oxygen, microorganisms （＂Four pools＂）. Fenlong cultivation can give birth to new farming culture and civilization, and it can achieve the physical ＂desalinized＂ transformation and utilization of saline soil. The formation of Fenlong green farming technology system makes it possible to invent the farming tools of ＂serf-propelled Fenlong machinery＂ that has got the patent, and it is the method for farmland （dry land, paddy field） Fenlong cultivation, saline-alkali soil smash-ridging cultivation and for the abundance of grass ecology on degraded grassland. The application of Fenlong ＂4＋1＂ （arable, saline-alkali soil, grasslands, Sponge City＋rivers） green development in China can achieve the ＂double safety＂ of food and living space.

Microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity are associated with organic carbon availability in an agricultural soil

Exploration of soil environmental characteristics governing soil microbial community structure and activity may improve our understanding of biogeochemical processes and soil quality. The impact of soil environmental characteristics especially organic carbon availability after 15-yr different organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs on soil bacterial community structure and functional metabolic diversity of soil microbial communities were evaluated in a 15-yr fertilizer experiment in Changping County, Beijing, China. The experiment was a wheat-maize rotation system which was established in 1991 including four different fertilizer treatments. These treatments included： a non-amended control（CK）, a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer treatment（NPK）; a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with swine manure incorporated treatment（NPKM）, and a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with maize straw incorporated treatment（NPKS）. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis（DGGE） of the 16 S r RNA gene was used to determine the bacterial community structure and single carbon source utilization profiles were determined to characterize the microbial community functional metabolic diversity of different fertilizer treatments using Biolog Eco plates. The results indicated that long-term fertilized treatments significantly increased soil bacterial community structure compared to CK. The use of inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated for long term（NPKM, NPKS） significantly promoted soil bacterial structure than the application of inorganic fertilizer only（NPK）, and NPKM treatment was the most important driver for increases in the soil microbial community richness（S） and structural diversity（H）. Overall utilization of carbon sources by soil microbial communities（average well color development, AWCD） and microbial substrate utilization diversity and evenness indices（H＇ and E） indicated that long-term inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated（NPKM, NPKS） could significantly stimulate soil microbial metabolic activity and functional diversity relative to CK, while no differences of them were found between NPKS and NPK treatments. Principal component analysis（PCA） based on carbon source utilization profiles also showed significant separation of soil microbial community under long-term fertilization regimes and NPKM treatment was significantly separated from the other three treatments primarily according to the higher microbial utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, polymers, phenolic compounds, and amino acid, while higher utilization of amines/amides differed soil microbial community in NPKS treatment from those in the other three treatments. Redundancy analysis（RDA） indicated that soil organic carbon（SOC） availability, especially soil microbial biomass carbon（Cmic） and Cmic/SOC ratio are the key factors of soil environmental characteristics contributing to the increase of both soil microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity in the long-term fertilization trial. Our results showed that long-term inorganic fertilizer and swine manure application could significantly improve soil bacterial community structure and soil microbial metabolic activity through the increases in SOC availability, which could provide insights into the sustainable management of China＇s soil resource.

Environmental exposure and flux of thallium by industrial activities utilizing thallium-bearing pyrite

Thallium(Tl) is a typical toxic heavy metal,with higher toxicity to mammals than Hg,Cd,and Pb.Accurate assessments of its environmental exposure and flux are central to effective management and control of Tl pollution.This paper first presents in detail the environmental exposure and flux of Tl by typical industrial activities utilizing Tl-bearing pyrite minerals to produce sulfuric acid.For this purpose,sequential extraction and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry(ICP-MS) were used to investigate total content and geo-chemical partitioning of Tl in raw pyrite ores and solid roasting wastes,thereby uncovering Tl distribution and transformation during the production process.Results showed that some portions of Tl bearing in the minerals went into vapor,which transferred Tl into different processes;and some portions of Tl went into water during the gas washing procedure,leaving some other portions remained in the solid slags.More importantly,detailed investigation revealed that 40% of Tl in the pyrite minerals was active,among which 25% of Tl originally in the pyrite minerals was washed into water during gas cleaning process and 15% of active Tl retained in the slags.The latter portion of active Tl could be possibly transferred to the soil or water with the slag deposal or being reused;and 60% of Tl remained relatively stable in the residual phase.

Antihyperglycemic Effect of Various Fractions from Residues of Blumea balsamifera

Objective To evaluate the antihyperglycemic activities of various fractions from theresidues of Blumea balsamifera（BB）,and to properly utilize the waste resource.MethodsThe antihyperglycemic activities were evaluated by the suppression on serum glucose level in vivo andα-glucosidase inhibition assay in vitro.The high-,mid-,and low-dose（1,0.5,and 0.25 g/kg of the herb）fractions were ig given to mice for 8 d.The serum glucose was monitored at 1 and 12 h after feeding.Results The fasting and postprandial serum glucose levels of mice treated with high-dose petroleum ether fraction,ethyl acetate fraction,butyl alcohol fraction,methanol fraction,and water extract from BB were 4.45,4.39,4.43,4.15,3.74 mmol/L and 6.98,6.23,6.45,6.26,5.88 mmol/L,respectively,while those in vehicle control group were 5.63 and 7.50 mmol/L.There are four different inhibiting manners by the results ofα-glucosidase inhibition assay.Conclusion The residues of BB have anti-diabetes activities after steam distillation.