Microbial mechanism for improving biogas production performance from boiling acidified pig manure feedstock.

A short heat treatment (HT, 90 °C-100 °C, 5 min) was applied to two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) of pig manure (PM) to investigate its effect on microbial inactivation in the acidified feedstock during the methanogenic phase. The results showed that no differences in biogas production at organic loading rate (OLR) below 4.28 g volatile solid (VS)/(L·d).

Investigating the potential of geothermal heat pump and precision air supply system for heat stress abatement in dairy cattle barns.

Maintaining an optimal indoor thermal environment is crucial for enhancing the welfare and productivity of livestock in intensive breeding farms. This paper investigated the application of a combined geothermal heat pump with a precision air supply (GHP-PAS) system for cooling dairy cows on a dairy farm. The effectiveness of the GHP-PAS system in mitigating heat stress in lactating dairy cattle, along with its energy performance and local cooling efficiency in the free stalls were evaluated.

High-Intensity Continuous Light from Red-Blue Light-Emitting Diodes Improved Yield, Nutritional Quality and Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation in Two Leaf-Color Lettuces.

In an environmentally controlled plant factory with LED red-blue light, the effects of conventional light (4R:1B, 200 μmol·m·s, 18/6 h) and continuous light (CL, 24/0 h) with three light intensities (4R:1B, 200, 300 and 400 μmol·m·s, 24/0 h) on yield, nutritional quality, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH) in green-leaf Yidali and purple-leaf Zishan lettuces were investigated. The results showed that the dry and fresh shoot weight of two lettuces exposed to CL tended to increase with light intensity-from 200 to 400 μmol·m·s-compared to conventional light, while the leaf area tended to decrease or remained unchanged. High-intensity CL could significantly increase soluble sugar and reduce the nitrate contents of the two lettuces.

Carbon gain in upper but loss in deeper cropland soils across China over the last four decades.

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural systems is a primary nature-based option for mitigating climate change, improving soil fertility, and ensuring food security. However, the consequences of global warming and increases in carbon inputs on cropland SOC stocks over the last few decades remain largely unknown, particularly in deeper soil layers. Here, by using repeated measurements, we reassess variations in SOC stocks across a 0 to 100 cm soil profile at the same locations in China's upland croplands in 1980 and 2023.

Comparison of using animal manure and sludge compost as biofilter filling material for off-gas control in aerobic composting.

Biofiltration is an important method for composting off-gas treatment. Compost-based materials are widely used as the filling media for biofilter. To expand the application of compost from different composting materials in off-gas control for organic waste aerobic composting, the NH removal efficiency, NO generation, and microbial communities of ammonia monooxygenase (amoA functional gene was selected) and nitrite reductase (nirS functional gene was selected) were investigated using the animal manure compost (AMC) and sludge compost (SC) as filling materials.

[Greenhouse Gas Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors from Vegetable Fields with Different Organic Planting Years].

To clarify the characteristics of greenhouse gas emissions （CO, CH, and NO） and the comprehensive greenhouse effect from vegetable fields with different organic planting years, the differences in greenhouse gas emission flux, emission intensity （GHGI）, and warming potential （GWP） and their influencing factors among vegetable fields with different organic planting years in Songhuaba, including 10 years, 6 years, 3 years, and conventional planting, were analyzed. The results showed that the CO emissions from organic planting treatments were higher than those from conventional planting, whereas the NO and CH emissions were the opposite. Compared to those from conventional planting, the CO emission fluxes and cumulative emissions from organic cultivation for 10, 6, and 3 years increased by 121.

Anaerobic co-biodegradation of polyhydroxyalkanoate and swine manure for volatile fatty acid production: The impact of C/N ratios and microbial dynamics.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is the important biodegradable plastic, however, biodegradation of PHA waste in anaerobic environments emits more CH, a potent greenhouse gas. Bioconversion of PHA waste to useful byproducts - volatile fatty acids (VFAs) is a practical method to upcycle carbon from PHA. In this study, PHA waste was anaerobically co-digested with swine manure (SM) (the typical high nitrogen waste) at different C/N ratios.

Growth, Quality, and Nitrogen Metabolism of Under Continuous Light from Red-Blue-Green LEDs Responded Better to High Nitrogen Concentrations than Under Red-Blue LEDs.

Alfalfa is a widely grown forage with a high crude protein content. Clarifying the interactions between light quality and nitrogen level on yield and nitrogen metabolism can purposely improve alfalfa productivity in plant factories with artificial light (PFAL). In this study, the growth, quality, and nitrogen metabolism of alfalfa grown in PFAL were investigated using three nitrate-nitrogen concentrations (10, 15, and 20 mM, labeled as N, N, and N) and continuous light (CL) with two light qualities (red-blue and red-blue-green light, labeled as RB-C and RBG-C).

Preparation and evaluation of oral insulin nanocapsule delivery systems.

Insulin therapy is essential for regulating blood sugar levels. Conventional subcutaneous injection is prone to psychological stress, local tissue damage and severe blood glucose fluctuations, and thus the development of oral insulin technology has become an alternative therapy. However, oral insulin faces challenges such as difficult absorption, poor adhesion, low bioavailability, and short duration of action, due to the large molecular weight, low permeability, and easily degradable by enzymes and gastric acids.

Microencapsulated Microbial Seed Coating Could Improve Soil Environment and Maize Grain Yield in Saline Soil.

Soil salinization is one of the major challenges for modern agriculture, posing a great threat to soil health and food security. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of seed coating on soil environment and maize growth in saline soils. Three treatments were applied to maize seeds: coating with a microencapsulated microbial agent (ME), coating with microbial only (MB), and no coating (CK).

Novel insight into deriving remediation goals of arsenic contaminated sites with multi-media-equivalent dose and local exposure parameters.

The remediation goal (RG) for arsenic (As) calculated by the traditional method is approximately 0.45 mg·kg, significantly lower than the background values. This poses significant challenges for the management of As-contaminated sites.

Evaluating the accuracy of nine canopy resistance models in estimating winter wheat evapotranspiration using the Penman-Monteith equation.

Accurate estimation of farmland evapotranspiration (ET) is crucial for agricultural production. The accuracy of the widely used Penman-Monteith (PM) equation for estimating crop ET depends on the quality of input data and their ability to accurately model the canopy resistance ( ). In this study, we evaluated the PM equation in estimating winter wheat ET using nine models, with both original and recalibrated parameters, including the Farias (FA), Monteith (MT), Garcίa-Santos (GA), Idso (IS), Jarvis (JA), Katerji-Perrier (KP), Stannard (ST), Todorovic (TD), and Coupled surface resistance (CO) models.

Insights from the international workshop on "Adapting agriculture to climate change and air pollution".

An international workshop on "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change and Air Pollution" took place at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, during 23-27 October, 2023. Experts working in various multi-disciplinary areas of agroecosystem and environmental research gathered for academic communication and discussions. Two discussion groups focused on "agriculture under air pollution and climate change: current challenges and priorities for the future" and "adapting agriculture to air pollution and climate change: current status and next steps.

The dynamic patterns of critical ecological areas in the Yellow River Basin are driven primarily by climate factors but threatened by human activities.

While the identification of critical ecological areas (CEAs) has been limited by the availability of resources, funds, and land space, these areas are central for maintaining the contributions from nature and ecosystem biodiversity. Thus, in this study, CEAs were systematically identified and classified via long-term ecosystem assessment with a multifunctionality-stability-integrity framework in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). The intensity and pathways of the driving factors of CEA dynamics were also determined by the geographical detector model (GDM) and the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM).

Construction of Freezing Injury Grade Index for Nanfeng Tangerine Plants Based on Physiological and Biochemical Parameters.

Low-temperature freezing stress constitutes the most significant meteorological disaster during the overwintering period in the Nanfeng Tangerine (NT) production area, severely impacting the normal growth and development of the plants. Currently, the accuracy of meteorological disaster warnings and forecasts for NT orchards remains suboptimal, primarily due to the absence of quantitative meteorological indicators for low-temperature freezing stress. Therefore, this study employed NT plants as experimental subjects and conducted controlled treatment experiments under varying intensities of low-temperature freezing stress (0 °C, -2 °C, -5 °C, -7 °C, and -9 °C) and durations (1 h, 4 h, and 7 h).

Biochar application improves maize yield on the Loess Plateau of China by changing soil pore structure and enhancing root growth.

Biochar application emerges as a valuable soil management strategy for enhancing crop yield; however, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between soil and plants remain unclear after biochar application. In this study, soil pore characteristics and maize yield were assessed in a five-year biochar-application experiment on the Loess Plateau of China, including four treatments: Control (no biochar), low-dose biochar application (LB, 3 t ha), moderate-dose biochar application (MB, 6 t ha), and high-dose biochar application (HB, 9 t ha). Root growth traits were evaluated by cultivating maize in intact soil cores collected from field conditions using X-ray computed tomography.

Modeling the temporal evolution of plastic film microplastics in soil using a backpropagation neural network.

Plastic films are a crucial aspect of agricultural production in China, as well as a key source of microplastics in farmland. However, research into the environmental behavior of microplastics derived from polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable plastic films such as polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) is limited by inadequate knowledge of their evolution and fate in soil. Therefore, we conducted controlled soil incubation experiments using new and aged microplastics derived from prepared PE and PBAT plastic films to determine their temporal evolution characteristics in soil.

Leaf Photosynthetic and Photoprotective Acclimation in the Ultraviolet-A1 and Blue Light Regions Follow a Continuous, Shallow Gradient.

Although blue light is known to produce leaves with high photosynthetic capacity, the role of the blue-adjacent UV-A1 (350-400 nm) in driving leaf photosynthetic acclimation is less studied. Tomato plants were grown under hybrid red and blue (RB; 95/5 μmol m s), as well as four treatments in which RB was supplemented with 50 μmol m s peaking at 365, 385, 410 and 450 nm, respectively. Acclimation to 365-450 nm led to a shallow gradient increase in trait values (i.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Bactrocera correcta provides insights into its adaptation and invasion mechanisms.

Bactrocera correcta is an invasive polyphagous pest with significant ecological and economic implications. Understanding its genetic characteristics and the molecular mechanisms that drive its rapid adaptation to new environments requires genomic information. In this study, we successfully assembled the chromosome-level genome of B.