Characteristics of B,Zn and Se in stream sediments of Tanzania and their agricultural applications:Based on 1∶1000000 geochemical survey

Tanzania is located in eastern Africa with a predominantly agricultural ecomomy,the potential for developing and utilizing cultivated land are promising,but scientific guidance is required.B,Zn and Se are essential micronutrients for plants and human body with crucial biological functions,in particular,Se is significant for human health and considered as“the king of anti-cancer”.As these elements required by human or plants are mainly absorbed from soil directly or indirectly,therefore,it is important to understand the contents and distributions of them in the soil of cultivated land for guiding agricultural production.In this work,low-density geochemical survey at the scale of 1∶1000000 was carried out in Tanzania,and the results show that the concentrations of B,Zn and Se in stream sediments are low and their distributions are heterogeneous.According to the distributions of geological units,the existing cultivated land resources can be divided into five regions in Tanzania.Compared with the national background values,the concentrations of B,Zn and Se are insufficient overall but enriched locally in these regions.In general,element concentrations in stream sediments and soil have a positive correlation because of their similar sources,which is essential in agriculture application.Based on the information provided by low-density geochemical data and maps,the Se-sufficient and Se-rich regions were delineated in Tanzania,where can be used to develop Se-rich industries.Finally,this paper believes that geochemical survey is a powerful tool for cultivated land evaluation,agriculture management and land development.

Functional Sustainability of a Flight Dynamics Control System for Stable Hovering Flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV),such as in Agricultural Applications:Mathematical Modeling and Simulation

The simulation of a control system for the longitudinal axis of the rotary or fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs)is demonstrated in this study.The control unit includes design considerations of two controllers to provide robust stability,tracking of the proposed linear dynamics,an adequate set of proportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller gains,and a minimal cost function.The PID control and linear quadratic regulator(LQR)with or without full-state-observer were evaluated.An optimal control system is assumed to provide fast rise and settling time,minimize overshoot,and eliminate the steady-state error.The effectiveness of this approach was verified by a linear model of the UAV aircraft in the semi-dynamic simulation platform of Matlab/Simulink,in which the open-loop system was assessed in terms of flight robustness and reference tracking.The experimental results show that the proposed controllers effectively improve the configuration of the control system of the plant,maintain the sustainability of the dynamic flight model stability,and diminish the flight controller errors.The LQR provides robust stability,but it is not optimal in the transient phase of particular plant output.The PID control system can adjust the controller’s gains for optimal hovering(or stable slow flight)and is especially useful for the tracking system.Finally,comparing aircraft stability using PID and LQR controllers shows that the latter has less overshoot and a shorter settling time;in addition,all proposed controllers can be practically deployed as one UAV’s system,which can be handled as an exemplary model of the UAV flight management system.

Remote sensing for agricultural applications

Agricultural geospatial information is critical for agricultural policy formulation and decision making, land use monitoring, agricultural sustainability, crop acreage and yield estimation, disaster assessment, bioenergy crop inventory, food security policy, environmental assessment, carbon accounting, and other research topics that are of vital importance to agricul- ture and economy. Remote sensing technology enables us to collect, process, and analyze remotely sensed data and to retrieve, synthesize, visualize valuable geospatial information for agriculture uses. Specifically, remote sensing technology empowers capability for large scale field level or regional assessment and monitoring of crop land cover,

Large-Scale Ontology Development and Agricultural Application Based on Knowledge Domain Framework

The key activity to build semantic web is to build ontologies. But today, the theory and methodology of ontology construction is still far from ready. This paper proposed a theoretical framework for massive knowledge management- the knowledge domain framework （KDF）, and introduces an integrated development environment （IDE） named large-scale ontology development environment （LODE）, which implements the proposed theoretical framework. We also compared LODE with other popular ontology development environments in this paper. The practice of using LODE on management and development of agriculture ontologies shows that knowledge domain framework can handle the development activities of large scale ontologies. Application studies based on the described briefly. principle of knowledge domain framework and LODE was

Removal of heavy metals from sewage sludge by low costing chemical method and recycling in agriculture

Experiments were carried out to study the removal of heavy metals from municipal sewage sludge by proper method for land application. The sequential extractions for metal fractionation showed that the non digested sludge from Guangzhou contained Cu and Zn principally bound to carbonate and oxides and the metal sulfides were low. Among H 2SO 4, EDTA and NH 4HCO 3 extractant agents, H 2SO 4 was the most efficient and economic in removing the heavy metals, especially with the addition of the concentrated acid. Plant experiment in pots with Chinese cabbage ( Brassica Chinensis ) showed that the acidified sludges neutralized with alkaline amendments such as phosphate rock could increase significantly the plant yield and decreased the soil and plant contamination by heavy metals originated from sewage sludge.

REE Contents in Topsoil on the Loess Plateau and Effects of REE Applying on Crops

Eight rare earth elements(REE) in 104 topsoil samples collected from the Loess Plateau has been determined by using of INAA. The regional distribution of REE contents and its effectiveness of REE applying on crops in this area are discussed. The preliminary results showed that the mean concentration of most REE in this area approaches to those of China as a whole; and REE content in main type of soil of the Loess Plateau is as follows: gray cinnamon forest soil, Lou soil(stratified old manured loessal soil)> Heilu soil(dark loessal soil) . loessal soil>sierozem, and similar with the distribution pattern of soil clay contents in the soil which decrease gradually from southeast to northwest. This area may be suitable to apply REE in agriculture production.

Applications of cold atmospheric plasmas(CAPs)in agriculture:a brief review and the novel development of a radio-frequency CAP jet generator for plant mutation

Cold atmospheric plasmas(CAPs)have shown great applicability in agriculture.Many kinds of CAP sources have been studied in agricultural applications to promote plant growth and cure plant diseases.We briefly review the state-of-the-art stimulating effects of atmospheric-pressure dielectricbarrier-discharge(AP-DBD)plasmas,after the direct or indirect treatment of plants for growth promotion and disease control.We then discuss the special demands on the characteristics of the CAP sources for their applications in plant mutation breeding.An atmospheric and room temperature plasma(ARTP)jet generator with a large plasma irradiation area,a high enough concentration of chemically reactive species and a low gas temperature is designed for direct plant mutagenesis.Experimental measurements of the electrical,thermal and optical features of the ARTP generator are conducted.Then,an ARTP-P(ARTP for plant mutagenesis)mutation breeding machine is developed,and a typical case of plant mutation breeding by the ARTP-P mutation machine is presented using Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.seeds.Physical and agricultural experiments show that the newly-developed ARTP-P mutation breeding machine with a large irradiation area can generate uniform CAP jets with high concentrations of chemically reactive species and mild gas temperatures,and have signiflcant mutagenesis effects on the Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.seeds.The ARTP-P mutation breeding machine may provide a platform for systematic studies on mutation mechanisms and results for various plant seeds under different operating conditions in future research.

Gene engineering in swine for agriculture

Domestic pigs are the second most important source of meat world-wide, and the genetic improvement of economic traits, such as meat production, growth, and disease resistance, is a critical point for efficient production in pigs. Through conventional breeding and selection programs in pigs, which are painstakingly slow processes, some economic traits, such as growth and backfat, have been greatly improved over the past several decades. However, the improvement of many polygenetic traits is still very slow and challenging to be improved by conventional breeding strategies. The development of reproductive knowledge and a variety of techniques, including foreign gene transfer strategies, somatic cell nuclear transfer（SCNT） and particularly, recently developed nuclease-mediated genome editing tools, has provided efficient ways to produce genetically modified（GM） pigs for the dramatic improvement of economic traits. In this review, we briefly discuss the progress of genomic markers used in pig breeding program, trace the history of genetic engineering, mainly focusing on the progress of recently developed genome editing tools, and summarize the GM pigs which have been generated to aim at the agricultural purposes. We also discuss the specific challenges facing application of gene engineering in pig breeding, and future prospects.

Physicochemical properties of the AC- excited helium discharges using a water electrode

In this paper, the AC-excited helium discharges generated between the powered needle electrode enclosed in a conical quartz tube and the grounded de-ionized water electrode are investigated. The current and voltage waveforms exhibit a transition from the glow-like to streamer-like mode discharges, which forms a stable cone-shaped structure at the gas-liquid interface. In this region, the air and water vapor diffusion initiate various physical-chemical processes leading to substantial changes of the primary species emission intensities （e.g., OH, N2, NO, and O） and the rotational temperatures. The experimentally measured rotational temperature at the gas-liquid interface is 870 K from the Nz（C-B） band with a power input of 26 W. With the prolongation of the discharge time, significant changes in the discharge voltage and current, discharge emission patterns, instantaneous concentrations of the secondary species （e.g., H202, NO2, and NO3） in the liquid phase, pH values and electrical conductivities of the liquids are observed experimentally. The present study is helpful for deepening the understandings to the basic physical-chemical processes in the discharges in contact with liquids, especially to those occurring in the vicinity of the gas-liquid interface, and also for promoting existing and potential applications of such type of discharges in the fields of environmental protection, biomedicine, agriculture, and so on.

GUO BOSHENG,PIONEER FOR DEVELOPING RARE EARTH APPLICATION IN AGRICULTURE IN CHINA

Guo Bosheng, senior engineer/professor, is now a member of the Expert Group of the State Council Rare Earth Leading Group, PRC., director of Rare Earth Development Center for Agricultural Technique. He graduated from Moscow Fine Chemical Industry University in the Sovi-

Plant immunity inducers:from discovery to agricultural application

While conventional chemical fungicides directly eliminate pathogens,plant immunity inducers activate or prime plant immunity.In recent years,considerable progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of immune regulation in plants.The development and application of plant immunity inducers based on the principles of plant immunity represent a new field in plant protection research.In this review,we describe the mechanisms of plant immunity inducers in terms of plant immune system activation,summarize the various classes of reported plant immunity inducers(proteins,oligosaccharides,chemicals,and lipids),and review methods for the identification or synthesis of plant immunity inducers.The current situation,new strategies,and future prospects in the development and application of plant immunity inducers are also discussed.

Ascorbate oxidase electrochemical biosensor based on the biocompatible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) matrices for agricultural application in crops

The vitamin C（VC） in crops was successfully determined using ascorbate oxidase（AO） electrochemical biosensor based on the biocompatible poly（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）（PEDOT） matrices,which was easily prepared by one-step electrodeposition technique in ionic liquid microemulsions.The fabricated biosensor displayed excellent bioelectrocatalytic performance to the oxidation of VC,wide linear range,low detection limit,fast response time,good operational and storage stability,the good results of the determination of VC in vegetable crops indicated that the fabricated biosensor will be a good candidate for the physiological and biochemical studies of crops in near future.

Extending JASAG with data processing techniques for speeding up agricultural simulation applications:A case study with Simugan

Resource-intensive agricultural simulation applications have increased the need for gridification tools–i.e.,software to transform and scale up the applications using Grid infrastructures–.Previous research has proposed JASAG,a generic gridification tool for agricultural applications,through which the performance of a whole-farm simulation application called Simugan improved considerably.However,JASAG still lacks proper support for efficiently exploiting Grid storage resources,causing significant delays for assembling and summarizing the generated data.In this application note,two different data processing techniques in the context of JASAG are presented to tackle this problem.Simugan was again employed to validate the benefits of these techniques.Experiments using data processing techniques show that the execution time of Simugan was accelerated by a factor of up to 34.34.

Sparks of the CRISPR explosion:Applications in medicine and agriculture

Exactly 30 years ago,Nakata and coworkers published a paper analyzing the 1664-nucleotide sequence of a chromosomal DNA segment that contained the iap gene and its flanking regions in Escherichia coli（Ishino et al.,1987）.

Development of droplet characteristics prediction models for air induction nozzles based on wind tunnel tests

Nozzle flowrate and spray pressure are two of the most important factors influencing on droplet characteristics.With the aim to develop prediction models for air-induction nozzles(AINs),a series of Billericay Farm Services(BFS)AINs with different orifice diameters in combination with tap water were tested.0.2 MPa,0.3 MPa,0.4 MPa,0.5 MPa,0.6 MPa and 0.7 MPa of spray pressures and 2 m/s,3 m/s,4 m/s and 5 m/s of air speeds were setup.Based on the wind tunnel tests data,prediction models with input variables of nozzle flowrate and spray pressure and output variables of D_(v0.1),D_(v0.5),D_(v0.9),%<150μm(proportion of spray volume contained in droplets with diameter below 150μm),relative span(RS)and coefficient of variation(CV)of D_(v0.5) were developed.The developed models were validated based on wind tunnel experimental data.Results showed that:for D_(v0.1),D_(v0.5),D_(v0.9) and%<150μm,R^(2) were equal to 0.768,0.823,0.868 and 0.811,indicating that the predictive ability for these four parameters is strong.For RS and CV,R^(2) were equal to 0.100 and 0.113,respectively,indicating that the predictive ability for these two parameters is poor.The models developed in the present study are helpful for facilitating the use of AIN in agricultural spray application.

Nuclear Technique and Agriculture in China

Nuclear technique is a powerful scientific tool in agricultural research, an area with fruitful achievements in China. Application of nuclear technique in agriculture (Nuclear Agricultural Sciences) based on the development of related science and technology is a high-tech area, and also a significant aspect of non-electrical power application of nuclear technique.……