An effective technique to improve photosynthetic productivity and adaptability of rice

High photosynthetic productivity and widephotosynthetic adaptability are two importantphysiological characteristics for the sustained highyield and wider growing range of rice.Preliminaryexperiments indicated that the utilization ofbeterosis between two different ecotype rices,US

Soil Quality Evaluation and Technology Research on Improving Land Capability——A Case Study on Huanghuaihai Plain in Shandong Province

Based on the geochemical data obtained from the national project about the prevention and control of soil contamination, this paper explored the properties of soil chemical elements in Huanghuaihai Plain, Shandong Province. The results showed that among the grade-one nutritive elements in soil, organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus were relatively deficient while potassium was rich. Meanwhile, as the grade-two nutritive elements, calcium oxide and magnesium oxide were relatively short and sulfur’s content was abundant. About the other beneficial and trace nutri-tive elements, iron oxide, manganese, molybdenum and boron were deficient, but the content of chlorine was high, hardly lack. The main barriers to improving land productivity were soil salinization and soil heavy metal contamination. The values of soil integrated fertility index that most of the soil in the study area is middle-lower fertilized. Specifical y, the low fertility area and lower fertility area are 6 1604 and 1 244 km2 respectively, occupying about 97.43% and 1.97% of the total area. The moderate fertility soil has an area of 172 km2, occupying about 0.27% of the total area. The higher fertility soil covers an area of 128 km2, while the high fertility area of only 76 km2. This article proposed scientific fertilization, elimination of soil obsta-cle, remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soil and other effective measures to improve land productivity according to the basic investigation results, which provides a good technological support for the planning and development of good-quality and high-benefit agriculture.

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.

An assessment of response of soil-based indicators to nitrogen fertilizer across four tropical eucalyptus plantations

Low nitrogen （N） availability often results in reduced productivity of Eucalyptus plantations. We studied the response of four eucalyptus plantations （two plantations of E. tereticornis on the coastal lowlands, and two plantations of E. grandis in the upland region of the Western Ghats, Kerala, India） to N addition and related this response to seasonal N mineralization as well as other indices of N availability, in order to examine the utility of soil based indicators of N mineralization for predicting the response of eucalyptus growth to added N ferti- lizer. Several biochemical indicators were examined for their capacity to predict response to N fertilizer, including total soil N, soil C：N ratio, and N released during anaerobic and aerobic incubation. Results show that nitrogen fertilizer addition increased productivity across the 4 sites from 7% to 70%, N released during an aerobic incubation had the highest correlation with fertilizer response across the 4 sites （R^2=0.92/ p〈0.01）, and that Modelled seasonal soil N mineralisation was a poorer predictor of fertilizer response than N released during an aerobic incubation. Whilst some of these indicators are promising, they need wider validation and testing before they could be routinely applied.

An assessment of response of soil-based indicators to nitrogen fertilizer across four tropical eucalyptus plantations

Low nitrogen (N) availability often results in reduced productivity of Eucalyptus plantations. We studied the response of four eucalyptus plantations (two plantations of E. tereticornis on the coastal lowlands, and two plantations of E. grandis in the upland region of the Western Ghats, Kerala, India) to N addition and related this response to seasonal N mineralization as well as other indices of N availability, in order to examine the utility of soil based indicators of N mineralization for predicting the response of eucalyptus growth to added N fertilizer. Several biochemical indicators were examined for their capacity to predict response to N fertilizer, including total soil N, soil C:N ratio, and N released during anaerobic and aerobic incubation. Results show that nitrogen fertilizer addition increased productivity across the 4 sites from 7% to 70%, N released during an aerobic incubation had the highest correlation with fertilizer response across the 4 sites (R2=0.92, p<0.01), and that Modelled seasonal soil N mineralisation was a poorer predictor of fertilizer response than N released during an aerobic incubation. Whilst some of these indicators are promising, they need wider validation and testing before they could be routinely applied.

A Survey of the Use of the Discrete-event Simulation in Manufacturing Industry

In this work, a survey of companies has been produc ed from a questionnaire and in-depth inter-views. The aimof the paper is to give a current view of the use of DES (Discrete- Event Simulation) in the indust ry. The companies have been selected in a wide range in e.g. size, capital turno ver and employees. The survey was restricted to Sweden, although the results may be applicable to other countries with similar industrial structure. Some of the companies investigated are also multinational with branches around the world. T o illustrate the differences in production systems different sectors have be en investigated, e.g. the manufacturing industry and energy sector. The manufact uring systems generally differ in that the energy sector is more known for high reliability in their systems and the manufacturing sector tends to work more wit h lean production. Previous surveys of manufacturing efficiency illustrate different aspects. Accor ding to one survey, more than one-third (34%) of the disturbances in two countr ies (the U.S. and Finland) were mainly caused by design-based errors and flaws. The survey also showed the scope of safety problems experienced in the implemen tation and use of flexible manufacturing systems (Jrvinen et al., 1996). Another survey in Germany reports a gap between users and non-users of DES. Man y companies that are not familiar with simulation are not aware of its benefits. The study suggested integrating simulation into the planning processes as a reg ular tool. So far, DES is mostly used in system planning, resource planning and scheduling and production planning (Hirschberg & Heitmann, 1997). The disposition of the accomplished questionnaire had been multiple-choice ques tions in a strict order. The respondents gave their views on what the interviewe r considered relevant for the survey. The questionnaire was mailed to 220 person s in May 2001; a second round for unanswered surveys was dispatched in August 20 01. Replies came from 114 respondents; thus, the reply rate to all questionnaire s sent out was 52%. The replies came in from 80 different companies. Questionswere raised regarding what kinds of decisions are taken from a simulation projec t and questions were also asked regarding the tool itself. Some common problems encountered based on the authors’ knowledge were asked in the questionnaire. The questions were sent to those who had reasonable knowledge of how to work with D ES. Supplementary in-depth interviews were also accomplished. On the question if DES facilitates the decision-making process 79% of totally 3 8 answered to a very large or a large extent. Regarding the question if DES is a useful tool for measuring the availability of equipment for example system verification 73% of 33 responded to a very large or a large extent. A majority o f the respondents genuinely see an advantage with the use of simulation, which i s an important result from the study. The cost reduction aspect of the productio n is also an advantage of DES. On the question eight answered to a very large ex tent and 23 to a large extent of total 39 replies. The question demonstrates tha t the results of a simulation model are indeed used in the real world. Finally, in the question of DES is used for staffing it is indicated that it is not so co mmonly used as for other functions asked for. The staffing issue requires good k nowledge about time measurement of manual labor. The option, however, to include manual work in a simulation model is in many programs extensive and must be a v aluable option to evaluate work intensive parts of production lines and their im provement. To conclude, it could be mentioned that DES is a tool with potential. The use is increasing and 12 of 80 companies investigated in Sweden 2001 are using it, an increase compared to previous stud-ies. Of those 12 companies, four are using t he tool to a large extent. The main advantage according to the survey beside the visualization part is that the knowledge about a system is investigated and doc umented.

A review of the effects of dietary organic acids fed to swine

Animal production depends on nutrient utilization and if done there is an accelerated momentum towards growth with a low cost to feed ratio Public concern over the consumption of pork with antibiotic residues of the animals fed with antibiotic growth promoters （AGP） has paved the way to use other additives like herbs and their products, probiotics, prebiotics etc. Numerous feed additives are in vogue for achieving this target and one such classical example is the usage of organic acids and their salts. Usage of organic acids was in progress for over four decades. Early weaned piglets are （3-4 weeks age） exposed to stress with a reduced feed intake, little or no weight gain. This post weaning lag period is due to a limited digestive and absorptive capacity due to insufficient production of hydrochloric acid, pancreatic enzymes and sudden changes in feed consistency and intake. Lowering dietary pH by weak organic acids was found to overcome these problems. The main activity of organic acids is associated with a reduction in gastric pH converting the inactive pepsinogen to active pepsin for effective protein hydrolysis. Organic acids are both bacteriostatic and bactericidal. Lactic acid has been reported to reduce gastric pH and delay the multiplication of an enterotoxigenic E. coil These acids are the intermediary products in Kreb＇s cycle and thus act as an energy source preventing the tissue breakdown resulting from gluconeogenesis and lipolysis. Excretion of supplemental minerals and nitrogen are minimized with organic acids as these form complexes with minerals and aids for their bio-availability. Short chain fatty cids like acetic, propionic and n-butyric acid produced by microbial fermentation of dietary fibre in the large intestines may increase the proliferation of epithelial cells and have stimulatory effects on both endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretions in pigs. Organic acids also enhances apparent total tract digestibility and improves growth performance. It is concluded that organic acids and their salts increase the protein utilization especially in weaner pigs and improves production indices.

Identification of Behavior of Voluntary Traceability and Analysis of Its Determinants: A Case Study of Hog Slaughtering and Processing Firms in Zhejiang Province,China

In recent years, the Chinese government has highlighted the importance of adopting hog safety/quality traceability, and a growing amount of research continues to entice firms to adopt traceability systems. In this study, a survey was conducted on a sample of pig slaughtering and processing firms in Zhejiang, China through personal interviews and emails. The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of firm behavior on the implementation of voluntary traceability systems with more stringent standards and controls than those of the mandatory system in China. The results revealed that motivation based on product quality improvement, capital ability and role perception （business type） had significantly positive relationships with a firm＇s voluntary traceability. Other incentives, such as operation improvement, recall risk reduction, reduced occurrence of safety issues, and technical strength were not found to be supportive in our study. This study provides an opportunity to better understand the determinants of firm behavior on voluntary traceability, particularly in light of the fact that some Chinese firms are facing the threat of criminal action for the use of illegal additives and the abuse of Clenbuterol. Policy recommendations on encouraging the implementation of pork safety voluntary traceability by hog slaughtering and processing firms are also discussed.

Coal mine safety production forewarning based on improved BP neural network

Firstly, the early warning index system of coal mine safety production was given from four aspects as per- sonnel, environment, equipment and management. Then, improvement measures which are additional momentum method, adaptive learning rate, particle swarm optimization algorithm, variable weight method and asynchronous learning factor, are used to optimize BP neural network models. Further, the models are applied to a comparative study on coal mine safety warning instance. Results show that the identification precision of MPSO-BP network model is higher than GBP and PSO-BP model, and MPSO- BP model can not only effectively reduce the possibility of the network falling into a local minimum point, but also has fast convergence and high precision, which will provide the scientific basis for the forewarnin~ management of coal mine safetv production.

On sustaining the ecology and livestock industry of the Bayanbuluk Grasslands

A short visit to the Bayanbuluk Grassland in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, PRC, revealed a number of environmental and livestock production problems, including grassland degradation, loss of grassland biodiversity, soil erosion and flash flooding downstream, decreased pasture productivity, and poor livestock nutrition (especially in winter) leading to stock losses and flocks and herds of low productivity. This paper describes those problems and then suggests some solutions. Short duration, high intensity grazing could be one of the solutions to both improving grassland condition and improving livestock nutrition. Local production of fodder crops for feeding in winter and spring deserves testing, using adapted strains of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and trialling fodder root crop production. It is important to realise that the land management objectives of scientists, administrators, herders and farmers may be similar, and that there are opportunities for land improvement through working together.

On an Application of the Improved Maximum Product Criterion to Inverse Acoustic Scattering in a Layered Medium

In this paper, we consider the numerical treatment of an inverse acoustic scattering problem that involves an impenetrable obstacle embedded in a layered medium. We begin by employing a modified version of the well known factorization method, in which a computationally effective numerical scheme for the reconstruction of the shape of the scatterer is presented. This is possible, due to a mixed reciprocity principle, which renders the computation of the Green function at the background medium unnecessary. Moreover, to further refine our inversion algorithm, an efficient Tikhonov parameter choice technique, called Improved Maximum Product Criterion (IMPC) is exploited. Our regularization parameter is computed via a fast iterative algorithm which requires no a priori knowledge of the noise level in the far-field data. Finally, the effectiveness of IMPC is illustrated with various numerical examples.

Modeling and optimization for oil well production scheduling

In this paper,an oil well production scheduling problem for the light load oil well during petroleum field exploitation was studied.The oil well production scheduling was to determine the turn on/off status and oil flow rates of the wells in a given oil reservoir,subject to a number of constraints such as minimum up/down time limits and well grouping.The problem was formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming model that minimized the total production operating cost and start-up cost.Due to the NP-hardness of the problem,an improved particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm with a new velocity updating formula was developed to solve the problem approximately.Computational experiments on randomly generated instances were carried out to evaluate the performance of the model and the algorithm's effectiveness.Compared with the commercial solver CPLEX,the improved PSO can obtain high-quality schedules within a much shorter running time for all the instances.

Tillage Effect and Development Prospect of Fenlong Farming Tools with"Drill"

In this paper,farming and crop cultivation effects of farming tools with"drill"which are invented independently in China are clarified firstly,containing horizontal cutting of soil,super deep ploughing,deep loosening and not disturbing soil layer,granular soil,soil not easy to bond and harden,and one-time land preparation.It is a significant path to deeply develop and use the"five natural resources"not fully utilized by human beings(soil resources at plough bottom and below,saline-alkali land,natural rainfall,solar energy,oxygen)and realize"mitigation"of five natural disasters(flood,drought,high temperature,low temperature and climate warming).In the past 10 years,the farming tools have been applied in 40 kinds of crops in 26 provinces of China.Compared with vertical breaking of soil by traditional"plow",the amount of loose soil,water storage and dissolved oxygen in cultivated land increased by more than one time,and yield increased by 10%-50%.They have been applied in transformation of saline-alkali land in 10 provinces,and yield increased by 30%-150%.After Fenlong treatment for 1 and 2 years,biomass of sugarcane increased by 68.9%and 50.1%respectively.Net photosynthetic rates of Gramineous crops were improved by 6.82%-11.94%,while net photosynthetic rates of Legume crops were improved by 20.32%-32.08%.After"spiral drill","vertical two-knife drill","vertical three-knife drill"and other hollow series of Fenlong farming toolss were invented newly.They were the most advanced farming tools with large soil discharge and small resistance,and could be equipped in large-,medium-and small-size modern Fenlong agricultural machinery as key technology,thereby setting up a new"standard stalk"for world agricultural reform and bringing benefit to mankind.

AN IMPROVED MODEL FOR COMPUTING SOLUTION DYNAMICS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS WITH ^(13)C NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RELAXATION

The fully anisotropic molecular overall tumbling model with methyl conformation jumps internal rotation among three equivalent sites is proposed,the overall tumbling rotation rates and the methyl internal rotation rates of ponicidin are computed with this model from ~C relaxation parameters.

Research on electronic word-ofmouth for product and service quality improvement:bibliometric analysis and future directions

Purpose-This paper aims to analyze high-quality papers on the research of electronic word-of-mouth(eWOM)for product and service quality improvement from 2009 to 2022,in order to fully understand theirhistorical progress,current situation and future development trend.Design/Methodology/Approach-This paper adopts the bibliometrics method to analyze the relevantliterature,including publishing trend and citation status,regional and discipline area distribution,andinfluential publications.Secondly,the VOSviewer is used for literature co-citation analysis and keywordco-occurrence analysis to obtain the basic literature and research hotspots in this research field.Findings-Firstly,the study finds that the number of publications basically shows an increasing trend,and thosepublications are mainly published in tourism journals.In addition,among these papers,China has the largestnumber of publications,followed by the USA and South Korea.Through co-citation analysis of literature andkeyword co-occurrence analysis,22 foundational papers and six main research topics are obtained in this paper.Finally,this paper elaborates on the development trend of the research topic and future research directions in detail.Originality/value-This is the first paper that uses bibliometrics to analyze and review relevant researcheson eWOM for product and service quality improvement,which is helpful for researchers to quickly understandits development status and trend.This review also provides some future research directions and provides areference for further research.

Development of a high-productivity grafting robot for Solanaceae

Grafting is a green,environmentally friendly,and sustainable way to prevent soil-borne diseases.Although artificial grafting is the main grafting approach used for grafting production,it has some problems which are low productivity,unstable operating quality and labor-intensive.Hence,some countries have been engaged in the development of grafting robots for the past two decades;however,the productivity of these grafting robots has no advantage when compared to artificial grafting.This study aims to develop a high-productivity grafting robot(HPR)for Solanaceae.To improve grafting productivity,this paper adopted plug trays to feed crown-removed rootstocks automatically and carried out multi-plant simultaneous grafting to improve grafting productivity and extensibility.Manipulators were employed to take out rootstocks,increase the distance between them,and transfer them to transfer cups for the simultaneous multi-plant grafting.At the same time,negative pressure mechanisms were designed for speeding up the auxiliary feeding of root-removed scions.Although the HPR was designed in a two-operator mode,a one-operator mode can also be implemented by adjusting the control program.Tests were conducted by varying the artificial feeding speed to analyze the performance of the grafting robot.The results showed that the productivity of the robot in the two-operator mode was 2250 plants/h,and 1542 plants/h in one-operator mode;comparing the artificial feeding productivity with auto grafting productivity,it was found that the capacity of the grafting robot was higher than the feeding speed of the one-operator mode but lower than that of the two-operator mode.

Optimizing photorespiration for improved crop productivity

In C3 plants, photorespiration is an energyexpensive process, including the oxygenation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate(RuBP) by ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase(Rubisco) and the ensuing multiorganellar photorespiratory pathway required to recycle the toxic byproducts and recapture a portion of the fixed carbon. Photorespiration significantly impacts crop productivity through reducing yields in C3 crops by as much as 50%under severe conditions. Thus, reducing the flux through, or weive R improving the efficiency of photorespiration has the potential of large improvements in C3 crop productivity.Here, we review an array of approaches intended to engineer photorespiration in a range of plant systems with the goal of increasing crop productivity. Approaches include optimizing flux through the native photorespiratory pathway, installing non-native alternative photorespiratory pathways, and lowering or even eliminating Rubiscocatalyzed oxygenation of RuBP to reduce substrate entrance into the photorespiratory cycle. Some proposed designs have been successful at the proof of concept level.A plant systems-engineering approach, based on new opportunities available from synthetic biology to implement in silico designs, holds promise for further progress toward delivering more productive crops to farmer’s fields.

An improved calibrated normalized resolution product(r*') and the application in HPLC fingerprints of soy isoflavone extract

In this paper, we proposed a novel resolution criterion（improved calibrated normalized resolution product, r＊＇） to evaluate separation quality of fingerprints. By comparing with the calibrated normalized resolution product（r＊） and the hierarchical chromatographic response function（HCRF）, the validity of this criterion was demonstrated by experimental chromatograms. The soy isoflavone extract was selected as the analytical object. The initial and end percentages of methanol and elution time affecting gradient elution were tested by orthogonal design. The final optimized conditions were as follows. It was detected by UV absorbance at 254 nm, column temperature was maintained at 36 oC, solvent A was 0.1%（v/v） acetic acid, solvent B was methanol, gradient elution was from 34% to 65% B in a linear gradient in 25 min, and the flow-rate was set at 1.0 m L/min. In addition, the main ingredients of the soy isoflavone extract were confirmed by LC-ESI/MS.

A simple data assimilation method for improving the MODIS LAI time-series data products based on the object analysis and gradient inverse weighted filter

A simple data assimilation method for improving estimation of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer （MODIS） leaf area index （LAI） time-series data products based on the gradient inverse weighted filter and object analysis is proposed. The properties and quality control （QC） of MODIS LAI data products are introduced. Also, the gradient inverse weighted filter and object analysis are analyzed. An experiment based on the simple data assimilation method is performed using MODIS LAI data sets from 2000 to 2005 of Guizhou Province in China.