Synthetic fertilizers are widely used to address the urgent challenge of ensuring food supplies for a growing world population in the context of climate change. However, their industrial production and use in agricult...Synthetic fertilizers are widely used to address the urgent challenge of ensuring food supplies for a growing world population in the context of climate change. However, their industrial production and use in agriculture have a negative impact on the environment and consequently on human health. While chemical fertilizers may not have to be abandoned in agricultural production systems, limiting their use could help to make agriculture sustainable and resilient to climate change. In Senegal, the level of mineral fertilizers used in market gardening has become alarming in the Niayes area. As a result, microbial biotechnologies have been promoted for biofertilizer production of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivation. Rhizobial inoculums have thus been used to reduce the rate of chemical nitrogen fertilizers being applied in cropping systems. Several investigations in the laboratory, on experimental stations and in the field have shown a possibility of a significant reduction in the use of nitrogen fertilizers in common bean production. Conventional mineral fertilization use can be reduced from over 120 kg N/ha to 20 kg N/ha. This contributes both to a very significant reduction in the application rate with the same level of yield and to an improvement in the standard of living. In addition, the environmental impact of using chemical fertilizers can be mitigated. This study is a contribution to the promotion of biofertilizers adoption in agricultural systems.展开更多
A 1.5-hour recording of six (Gulf of Mexico) captive common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Sea Life Park, Hawaii shows that: 1) they have a song of a sequence of tonal (often slurred) notes. The evidence ...A 1.5-hour recording of six (Gulf of Mexico) captive common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Sea Life Park, Hawaii shows that: 1) they have a song of a sequence of tonal (often slurred) notes. The evidence for their song comes from: a) their emitting songs that were complex (both tonally and rhythmically), b) their likely improvising (as inferred from their most complex songs not being repeated), c) songs based on a theme (used repeatedly), d) a bout of singing (at times) including social creativity, e) songs with a distinct beginning, middle and end section, and f) one song consisting of in part, a theme, 2) their songs are not sung in key (as determined from analysing the beginning tonal value of a note with spectral-frequency analysis), and 3) are sung in bouts, and 4) mostly with tonal-striated vocalizations (in the literature termed squawks and bray calls). Their apparent creativity (likely improvisations) and social creativity are of importance to how they evolved cognitively, to the study of song culture (between populations and delphinid species), understanding their (intra and inter-species) associations, and kinds of relationships, determining individual personalities, and perhaps will provide supporting evidence for their ability to reason. As inferred, they sing without being intentionally manipulative from: 1) their use of Gquic psychology [1] (as explained in this article), and 2) as inferred from their likely having an ability to reason [1] [2] (as deduced from their behavioural ecology (their unique exceptional evolutionary freedom), including their comparatively peaceful composure between conspecifics, in line with the proof of The Peaceful Composure Theorem), suggesting (per The Peaceful Composure Theorem) they have an egalitarian-like society. Their interspecies (displaced) aggression towards smaller odontocete species is shown to be a function of jealousies that emerge from their stronger social bonds than other species, from their compassionate nature, and females and males not pairing up in long-term associations. Species with greater cultural freedom are shown to have a more complex song providing further evidence for species culture not crucial to survival. The conclusive evidence for specie culture from my recent publications is of relevance to the scientific community’s acceptance of two new theories of evolution, and Gquic psychology. The loud burst-pulse sounds, chasing, charging and raking behaviours described in the literature could be a play behaviour, ought not be labelled as aggressive behaviours, as inferred from dog mock-fight play behaviour. In regard to future comparative behavioural ecology studies, aggressive animal behaviour should only be defined as an act of displacement (that is shown to commonly occur in the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin species (Tursiops aduncus)), or as acts of biting, and hitting.展开更多
OER Commons项目是由美国教育领域的知识管理研究协会(ISKME)创建的共享开放教育资源的知识库与联接门户,旨在支持开放教育资源应用和重用。文章介绍了OER Commons项目的发展及其特色,并分析了该项目的开放机制,提出了对我国开放教育资...OER Commons项目是由美国教育领域的知识管理研究协会(ISKME)创建的共享开放教育资源的知识库与联接门户,旨在支持开放教育资源应用和重用。文章介绍了OER Commons项目的发展及其特色,并分析了该项目的开放机制,提出了对我国开放教育资源建设的启示。展开更多
文摘Synthetic fertilizers are widely used to address the urgent challenge of ensuring food supplies for a growing world population in the context of climate change. However, their industrial production and use in agriculture have a negative impact on the environment and consequently on human health. While chemical fertilizers may not have to be abandoned in agricultural production systems, limiting their use could help to make agriculture sustainable and resilient to climate change. In Senegal, the level of mineral fertilizers used in market gardening has become alarming in the Niayes area. As a result, microbial biotechnologies have been promoted for biofertilizer production of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivation. Rhizobial inoculums have thus been used to reduce the rate of chemical nitrogen fertilizers being applied in cropping systems. Several investigations in the laboratory, on experimental stations and in the field have shown a possibility of a significant reduction in the use of nitrogen fertilizers in common bean production. Conventional mineral fertilization use can be reduced from over 120 kg N/ha to 20 kg N/ha. This contributes both to a very significant reduction in the application rate with the same level of yield and to an improvement in the standard of living. In addition, the environmental impact of using chemical fertilizers can be mitigated. This study is a contribution to the promotion of biofertilizers adoption in agricultural systems.
文摘A 1.5-hour recording of six (Gulf of Mexico) captive common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Sea Life Park, Hawaii shows that: 1) they have a song of a sequence of tonal (often slurred) notes. The evidence for their song comes from: a) their emitting songs that were complex (both tonally and rhythmically), b) their likely improvising (as inferred from their most complex songs not being repeated), c) songs based on a theme (used repeatedly), d) a bout of singing (at times) including social creativity, e) songs with a distinct beginning, middle and end section, and f) one song consisting of in part, a theme, 2) their songs are not sung in key (as determined from analysing the beginning tonal value of a note with spectral-frequency analysis), and 3) are sung in bouts, and 4) mostly with tonal-striated vocalizations (in the literature termed squawks and bray calls). Their apparent creativity (likely improvisations) and social creativity are of importance to how they evolved cognitively, to the study of song culture (between populations and delphinid species), understanding their (intra and inter-species) associations, and kinds of relationships, determining individual personalities, and perhaps will provide supporting evidence for their ability to reason. As inferred, they sing without being intentionally manipulative from: 1) their use of Gquic psychology [1] (as explained in this article), and 2) as inferred from their likely having an ability to reason [1] [2] (as deduced from their behavioural ecology (their unique exceptional evolutionary freedom), including their comparatively peaceful composure between conspecifics, in line with the proof of The Peaceful Composure Theorem), suggesting (per The Peaceful Composure Theorem) they have an egalitarian-like society. Their interspecies (displaced) aggression towards smaller odontocete species is shown to be a function of jealousies that emerge from their stronger social bonds than other species, from their compassionate nature, and females and males not pairing up in long-term associations. Species with greater cultural freedom are shown to have a more complex song providing further evidence for species culture not crucial to survival. The conclusive evidence for specie culture from my recent publications is of relevance to the scientific community’s acceptance of two new theories of evolution, and Gquic psychology. The loud burst-pulse sounds, chasing, charging and raking behaviours described in the literature could be a play behaviour, ought not be labelled as aggressive behaviours, as inferred from dog mock-fight play behaviour. In regard to future comparative behavioural ecology studies, aggressive animal behaviour should only be defined as an act of displacement (that is shown to commonly occur in the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin species (Tursiops aduncus)), or as acts of biting, and hitting.
