Grasslands may mitigate rising levels of the atmospheric %greenhouse gas% carbon dioxide by C sequestration in soil organic matter, depending on several environmental and management factors. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of long-term (19 years) different cutting frequencies (CFs), using equal amounts of mineral fertilisers (173 kg N, 40 kg P, and 150 kg K ha%1 year%1), on some sward and soil properties of previous extensively fertilised and utilised bio-diverse wet grassland. The impact of the study was directed towards the soil organic C and the apparent N budget. The CFs during the grassland experiment were cut at 2, 4, 6, 8,10, and 12-weekly intervals. CF significantly affected the sward and the soil characteristics of the grassland. The average number of plants per plot was high at medium CFs and low at low CFs. The above-ground biomass yield was high at medium and at low CFs, and its N content was high at medium and at high CFs. Soil organic C stocks (SOCS), soil total N stocks (STNS), and soil bulk density showed significant interactive responses to CFs % soil depths (0 cm, 10%20 cm). Due to high amounts of symbiotically fixed N by legumes at higher CFs, the average above-ground biomass yields contained more N than was added with fertilizers. In contrast to the second soil layer, the first soil layer in those treatments was rich in SOCS and STNS. In treatment of 8-weekly intervals between cuts, the balance between N inputs and N taken-up by plants was closest to zero. Especially in those cases of low CFs (10 and 12-weekly intervals between cuts), the apparent N budget showed that N added with fertilisers was not fully removed from the system regarding above-ground biomass yields. Due to high SOCS and STNS in both soil layers it can be assumed that N surplus had been partly built into the soil organic matter. However, a part of N was uncontrollably lost from the soil%plant system. The obtained results highlight the complexity of the problem of C sequestration. In reality none of the treatments at the end of the experiment displayed everything, namely, high SOCS in both layers of the soil, low uncontrolled outputs of N from the system, high plant diversity and high yields of above-ground plant biomass.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3953964
Land-use and land-cover are parameters that influence all other assessments, which include values, leading to judgments about a landscape’s “beauty” and “quality”. Landscape change is a process triggered with complex interactions between natural and human systems. This complex systems manifested in land-cover transitions can be traced by using old cartographic material, aerial photographs or satellite imagery. Good historical data sets for vegetation cover allow us to perceive trends at different temporal intervals in the past and simultaneously enable us to model and predict future land cover. The neural network time-series forecast model or the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier is commonly used for data interpretation and modeling (especially in the field of landuse/land-cover change dynamics), not only for remotely sensed data but also for field-based mapped data. Continuous change over an area of 238 km2 of the “classic” Karst in Slovenia, previously severely deforested, has resulted in a change of the landscape identity in last 250 years: grasslands declined from 82 to 20% and forests progressed from 17 to 73%. The prediction estimates that grasslands will cover 18 km2 less in 2025 than today and will then shrink to just 6 km2 (3%) in 2100. The speed of grassland overgrowing in some parts of the “classic” Karst w a s calculated on 2.2 km2/year. In 2075, forest will cover 88% of the whole study area, and will reach 90% in 2100, achieving then an almost steadystate situation. Calculation of the spatial change trend for grasslands enabled us also to determine where in space the overgrowing process will occur during each of the predicted periods. Congruent aspects of changed landscape identity (e.g. landscape beauty, diversity, and wilderness) are discussed, but according to legal obligations regarding the conservation of Natura 2000 grassland habitats, the management with grassland remnants (5% of grasslands was already lost after the Slovenian accession to EU in 2004) are suggested to be incorporated in active landscape planning.
COBISS.SI-ID: 20808712
Clonally propagated crop species are less adaptable to environmental changes than those propagating sexually. DNA studies have shown that in all countries where taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) has been introduced clonally its genetic base is narrow. As genetic variation is the most important source of adaptive potential, it appears interesting to attempt to increase genetic and phenotypic diversity to strengthen smallholders% capacity to adapt to climatic changes. A global experiment, involving 14 countries from America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific was conducted to test this approach. Every country received a set of 50 indexed genotypes in vitro assembling significant genetic diversity. After on-station agronomic evaluation trials, the best genotypes were distributed to farmers for participatory on-farm evaluation. Results indicated that hybrids tolerant to taro leaf blight (TLB, Phytophthora colocasiae Raciborski), developed by Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and Samoa breeding programmes outperformed local cultivars in most locations. However, several elite cultivars from SE Asia, also tolerant to TLB, outperformed improved hybrids in four countries and in one country none of the introductions performed better than the local cultivars. Introduced genotypes were successfully crossed (controlled crossing) with local cultivars and new hybrids were produced. For the first time in the history of Aroids research, seeds were exchanged internationally injecting tremendous allelic diversity in different countries. If climatic changes are going to cause the problems envisaged, then breeding crops with wide genetic diversity appears to be an appropriate approach to overcome the disasters that will otherwise ensue.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4347948
BACKGROUND Organic production is widely assumed to affect quality and nutritional parameters of arable crops. A field experiment was started in 2009 following integrated (INT), organic (ORG) and biodynamic (BD) production standards for wheat, maize and rapeseed production. With resort to standard analytical procedures and chemometrics compositional parameters of Brassica napus L. 'Siska' seed (water, protein, oil and glucosinolate content) by non-destructive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and fatty acid composition determined by gas chromatography, were assessed. RESULTS The BD and ORG production systems positively influenced oleic fatty acid and oil content in comparison to INT, which had higher levels of protein and water content (19.8% and 4.7%, respectively), as well as linolenic (3.8%), gadoleic (12.6%) and hexadecadienoic (15.5%) fatty acids. Increases in the listed parameters were linked to mineral fertilizer application in the INT production system. With principal component analysis (PCA) the INT samples were clearly differentiated. The PCA results were influenced by differences in linolenic, gadoleic and behenic fatty acid levels as well as protein and water content. CONCLUSION Because quality parameters in rapeseed are increased in alternative production systems, the production with an understanding of the soil processes and yield formation, presents an opportunity for ORG and BD farmers.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4240684
Weaning stress accompanied by outburst of aggression is a critical point in pig production as it compromises piglets% welfare and leads to poor growth rate and health problems. Therefore, a weaning methods to smoothen the lactation%weaning transition are of great importance. In the present study a simple practical approach based on the imprinting phenomenon to improve weaned piglets% welfare and growth performance was implemented. From birth, piglets were continually exposed to the simple 2D shapes, either a white circle on a black background (WC) or a black cross on a white background (BC). At weaning, piglets were allotted to weaning groups consisting of one WC and one BC litter, whereby test weaning pens, but not the control pens, were virtually divided using WC and BC signage on respective halves of the pen. The approach was tested in low- and high-density weaning groups, i.e. 10 or 20 individuals per pen (120 animals in total). The results revealed better growth performance of the test group (12-17% higher daily gain). On the whole, the number of post-weaning fights was lower in the test group and the majority of fights (62-75%) occurred among WC and BC. As regards the territoriality, piglets post-weaning tendency to remain in the area marked with a familiar sign was in general significant % i.e. more distinct grouping in the test pens (p ( 0.05), comparing to the control pen. It appears that virtual splitting of weaning pens using simple 2D symbols to which pigs were exposed during lactation may decrease weaning aggression, promote distinct grouping and territorial behaviour, and promote growth performance of weaned piglets under farm conditions, especially in groups with lower stock density.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4329516
This paper describes a computer vision based model for object detection that can serve as a preliminary step in fruit prognosis, which involves the estimation of the number, diameter and yield of apple fruits. In order to overcome the recognition unreliability in uncontrolled environments caused by uneven illumination conditions, partly occluded surfaces, and similar background features, we rely on a combination of the objectćs colour, texture and 3D shape properties. In our research, we apply colour segmentation to multiple scene snapshots to separate potential regions from the background andverify them first with texture analysis and second by reconstructing them to 3D space. By analysing all three distinct features (colour, texture and 3D shape) of possible areas, we can safely conclude if they represent fruits we are looking for. Once we detect and verify all areas representing fruits, we can measure their size and model estimated fruit yield.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3078700
Colour and taste are important attributes of apple fruit quality and have therefore been widely studied. Nevertheless, because of the destructive sampling methods commonly used to obtain the data, and of the subsequent traditional analyses, ignoring the effects of biological variation, the knowledge on the kinetic mechanisms of synthesis and degradation of individual quality components during fruit development and growth is still lacking. Spatio-temporal changes of taste components (sugars: fructose, sucrose, glucose, organic acids: malic, citric, shikimic and fumaric acid) and colour aspects (a*) in individual apple fruits were monitored to assess the dynamics and mechanisms of change during development and ripening with respect to location within fruit as a factor and the variation between individual apples. Data were analysed with non-linear indexed regression based on either a logistic or an exponential process oriented model assessing the technical variation simultaneously. The rate constants for colour or taste component were roughly similar between cultivars, suggesting a similar mechanism of development and confirming the generic nature of the model. There was a very large biological variation in individual quality components observed in the raw data (the biological variation), which can be almost exclusively explained by the difference in the maturity stage between individual fruit. The explained parts (R2adj) were, with one exception, higher than 0.90. The major contribution of this study is the fact that all the herein monitored taste defining components can be analysed and described with the same process-oriented model.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4244268
Successful development of the chicken small intestinal epithelial (CSIEC) model and testing the water-soluble form of plant extract to the cell response. With this model, we determine the optimal concentration of the water-soluble form of the additive for growth and development of the cells. This was reflected in significantly higher cell growth, lower production of ROS substances, not increased cell metabolism, increased normal cell division, and no increased genotoxicity. The determine concentration of the water-soluble form of plant extract could be, in the next phase directly used on a small number of animals in the laboratory conditions according to 3R and EFSA standards.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4478586
Plasma lipid levels are important risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Previous findings have shown that probiotic bacteria exert positive on hypercholesterolemia by lowering serum cholesterol and improving lipid profile that, in turn, leads to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Most of these studies were carried out with tumoral cell lines that have a metabolism quite different from that of normal cells and many thus respond differently to various stimuli. Here, we demonstrate the beneficial effect of some probiotic on cholesterol levels and pathways in normal small intestinal foetal epithelial tissue cells. The results show that Lactobacillus plantarum strain PCS 26 efficeintly removes cholesterol from meia, exhibits bile salt hydrolise activity, and up-regulates several genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. This study sugests that Lactobacillus plantarum PCS 26 might act as a liver X receptor agonist and help to improve lipid profiles in hypercholesterolemic patients or even dislipidemias in complex diseases such as the metabolic syndrome.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3662124
Coeliac disease (CD) is associated with alterations of the intestinal microbiota. Although several Bifidobacterium strains showed anti-inflammatory activity and prevention of toxic gliadin peptides generation in vitro, few data are available on their efficacy when administered to CD subjects. This study evaluated the effect of administration for three months of a food supplement based on two Bifidobacterium breve strains (B632 and BR03) to restore the gut microbial balance in coeliac children on a gluten free diet (GFD). Microbial DNA was extracted from faeces of 40 coeliac children before and after probiotic or placebo administration and 16 healthy children (Control group). Sequencing of the amplified V3-V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA gene as well as qPCR of Bidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp., Bacteroides fragilis group Clostridium sensu stricto and enterobacteria were performed. The comparison between CD subjects and Control group revealed an alteration in the intestinal microbial composition of coeliacs mainly characterized by a reduction of the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, of Actinobacteria and Euryarchaeota. Regarding the effects of the probiotic, an increase of Actinobacteria was found as well as a re-establishment of the physiological Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Therefore, a three-month administration of B. breve strains helps in restoring the healthy percentage of main microbial components.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4240940