Relational Agriculture: Gender,Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming

Although 97% of U.S. farms are “family-owned,” little research examines how gender and sexual relationships – inherent in familial dynamics – influence farmers’ practices and livelihoods. Gender and sexual dynamics – shaped by race and class – affect who is considered a farmer, land management decisions, and access to resources like land, subsidies, and knowledge. We use feminist and queer lenses to illuminate how today’s agricultural gender and sexual relations are not “natural,” but when left uninterrogated are constructed in ways that harm women and queer farmers while limiting potential to develop sustainable practices. Women and queer farmers also resist, “re-orienting” gender and sexual relations in ways that expand possibilities for achieving food justice and ecological sustainability. We offer “relational agriculture” as a tool for making visible and re-orienting gender and sexual relations on farms. Relational agriculture brings sexuality into food justice and demonstrates the centrality of gender and sexuality to agricultural sustainability.     

Strain analysis of a seismically imaged mass‐transport complex,offshore Uruguay

Strain style, magnitude and distribution within mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) are important for understanding the process evolution of submarine mass flows and for estimating their runout distances. Structural restoration and quantification of strain in gravitationally driven passive margins have been shown to approximately balance between updip extensional and downdip contractional domains; such an exercise has not yet been attempted for MTCs. We here interpret and structurally restore a shallowly buried (c. 1,500 mbsf) and well‐imaged MTC, offshore Uruguay using a high‐resolution (12.5 m vertical and 15 × 12.5 m horizontal resolution) three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey. This allows us to characterise and quantify vertical and lateral strain distribution within the deposit. Detailed seismic mapping and attribute analysis shows that the MTC is characterised by a complicated array of kinematic indicators, which vary spatially in style and concentration. Seismic‐attribute extractions reveal several previously undocumented fabrics preserved in the MTC, including internal shearing in the form of sub‐orthogonal shear zones, and fold‐thrust systems within the basal shear zone beneath rafted‐blocks. These features suggest multiple transport directions and phases of flow during emplacement. The MTC is characterised by a broadly tripartite strain distribution, with extensional (e.g. normal faults), translational and contractional (e.g. folds and thrusts) domains, along with a radial frontally emergent zone. We also show how strain is preferentially concentrated around intra‐MTC rafted‐blocks due to their kinematic interactions with the underlying basal shear zone. Overall, and even when volume loss within the frontally emergent zone is included, a strain difference between extension (1.6–1.9 km) and contraction (6.7–7.3 km) is calculated. We attribute this to a combination of distributed, sub‐seismic, ‘cryptic’ strain, likely related to de‐watering, grain‐scale deformation and related changes in bulk sediment volume. This work has implications for assessing MTCs strain distribution and provides a practical approach for evaluating structural interpretations within such deposits.     

南海北部湾秋季蓝圆鲹与竹筴鱼的摄食生态及食物竞争

【目的】研究南海北部湾海域秋季蓝圆鲹与竹筴鱼的摄食生态特征和种间食物竞争。【方法】采用胃含物分析法,对2017年10月北部湾底拖网调查和港口随机取样收集的119尾蓝圆鲹(Decapterusmaruadsi)和198尾竹筴鱼(Trachurus japonicus)胃含物样品进行分析,通过肉眼直接观察或显微镜间接观察胃中残留的饵料,饵料种类鉴定、计数、称重等对食性做定量分析,以估算两种鱼类的营养级和生态位宽度,并利用生态位重叠研究两种鱼类的食物竞争关系。【结果与结论】蓝圆鲹的饵料种类19种(属),以桡足类和小型鱼类为主,优势饵料生物为布氏半棱鳀(Encrasicholinapunctifer);竹筴鱼的饵料种类18种(属),以小型鱼类和浮游甲壳类为主,优势饵料为中国毛虾(Acetes chinensis)。两种鱼类均为游泳动物食性,均存在摄食转换,随着叉长的增长,蓝圆鲹的饵料生物由小型浮游动物为主转变为小型鱼类为主,竹筴鱼的饵料生物由小型鱼类为主转变为以樱虾类和较大鱼类为主。蓝圆鲹和竹筴鱼的空胃率、竹筴鱼的平均胃饱满指数均随个体生长呈显著变化(P<0.05),但蓝圆鲹的平均胃饱满指数随个体生长无显著变化(P>0.05)。蓝圆鲹和竹筴鱼的营养级分别为3.63和3.40,营养生态位宽度分别为1.70和1.24,生态位重叠系数0.56,表明两种鱼类之间存在一定的食物竞争。     

Comparisons of Salinity Adaptation in Terms of Growth,Body Composition,and Energy Budget in Juveniles of Rainbow and Steelhead Trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study examined the effect of different salinities(0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30) on the growth performance and energy budget of juveniles of two different ecotypes of Oncorhynchus mykiss, landlocked rainbow trout and anadromous steelhead trout. In the 42 d experiment, fish were cultured in three replicate tanks per salinity treatment(eight fish per tank). At the end of the experiment, the growth of rainbow and steelhead trouts was significantly higher at salinities of 5 and 10, respectively, than at all other salinities. The protein, lipid and energy content of both ecotypes declined with the increase of salinity. Based on their energy budgets, the percentage of energy consumed for growth by rainbow and steelhead trouts were significantly higher at salinities of 5(34.00% ±1.69%) and 10(43.76% ± 1.29%), respectively, than at all other salinities. The percentage of energy consumed for respiration by rainbow and steelhead trouts was lower at salinities of 5(54.90% ± 1.77%) and 10(46.73% ± 0.62%), respectively, than at all other salinities. Our results indicated that the salinity adaptation ability of juvenile steelhead trout was slightly better than that of juvenile rainbow trout, and salinities of 10 and 5, respectively, were most suitable for growth of these two fishes.     

苔藓生物结皮层腐殖质组成变化特征研究

腐殖质组成是表征土壤化学性质的主要指标之一,在某种程度对评价风沙土的发育过程具有意义。采集了不同气候区沙地沙漠苔藓生物结皮层样品,采用重铬酸钾容量法和光密度法测定了苔藓结皮层腐殖质组成含量和胡敏酸吸光特性。结果表明：随着干燥指数的增加,苔藓结皮层有机质含量由14.93 g·kg^-1降低到9.89 g·kg^-1,腐殖酸总量由5.1 g·kg^-1降低到2.0 g·kg^-1,胡敏酸含量由2.9 g·kg^-1降低到 0.7 g·kg^-1,富里酸含量由2.2 g·kg^-1降低到1.3 g·kg^-1,胡敏酸与富里酸比值（HA/FA）由1.32降低到0.54,E₄/E₆比值则由4.28增加到5.83。苔藓结皮层腐殖质组成含量及胡敏酸吸光特性具有地带性变化趋势,并影响着生物结皮层及流动风沙土的发育演变过程。     

珠江口枯水期和丰水期中小型浮游动物群落动态

根据珠江口枯水期(2013年11月)和丰水期(2014年8月) 24个站位调查资料,对中小型浮游动物种类组成、丰度分布、群落结构及其主要影响因子进行了研究.结果表明,枯水期和丰水期分别鉴定浮游动物成体91种和70种,以桡足类最为丰富.浮游动物种类从河口上游向外围逐渐增加.浮游动物丰度时空分布差异显著,丰水期平均值高达11 619. 78 ind/m~3,显著高于枯水期的1 707. 13 ind/m~3.桡足类在珠江口中小型浮游动物中占绝对优势,枯水期和丰水期分别占总丰度的80. 3%和93. 0%,对浮游动物的丰度分布起关键作用.强额孔雀哲水蚤(Parvocalanus crassirostris)、中华异水蚤(Acartiella sinensis)和刺尾纺锤水蚤(Acartia spinicauda)在两个水期均为主要优势种,小拟哲水蚤(Paracalanus parvus)和厦门矮隆哲水蚤(Bestiolina amoyensis)则分别在枯水期和丰水期具有较高的优势度.聚类分析的结果显示,枯水期和丰水期该水域浮游动物均可划分为3个群落.相关性分析表明,珠江口中小型浮游动物群落结构受多个环境因子的影响,但盐度是其中最为关键的非生物因子.     

Retrieving volume FeO and TiO_2 abundances of lunar regolith with CE-2 CELMS data using BPNN method

The volume FeO and TiO_2 abundances(FTAs) of lunar regolith can be more important for understanding the geological evolution of the Moon compared to the optical and gamma-ray results. In this paper, the volume FTAs are retrieved with microwave sounder(CELMS) data from the Chang'E-2 satellite using the back propagation neural network(BPNN) method. Firstly, a three-layered BPNN network with five-dimensional input is constructed by taking nonlinearity into account. Then, the brightness temperature(TB) and surface slope are set as the inputs and the volume FTAs are set as the outputs of the BPNN network.Thereafter, the BPNN network is trained with the corresponding parameters collected from Apollo, Luna,and Surveyor missions. Finally, the volume FTAs are retrieved with the trained BPNN network using the four-channel TBderived from the CELMS data and the surface slope estimated from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter(LOLA) data. The rationality of the retrieved FTAs is verified by comparing with the Clementine UV-VIS results and Lunar Prospector(LP) GRS results. The retrieved volume FTAs enable us to re-evaluate the geological features of the lunar surface. Several important results are as follows. Firstly, very-low-Ti(<1.5 wt.%) basalts are the most spatially abundant, and the surfaces with TiO_2> 5 wt.% constitute less than 10% of the maria. Also, two linear relationships occur between the FeO abundance(FA) and the TiO_2 abundance before and after the threshold, 16 wt.% for FA. Secondly, a new perspective on mare volcanism is derived with the volume FTAs in several important mare basins, although this conclusion should be verified with more sources of data. Thirdly, FTAs in the lunar regolith change with depth to the uppermost surface,and the change is complex over the lunar surface. Finally, the distribution of volume FTAs hints that the highlands crust is probably homogeneous, at least in terms of the microwave thermophysical parameters.     

COSMO-SkyMed颜色变换强度RC法南京建设用地变化检测

基于非局部滤波的SAR强度RC合成变化检测法对小图斑、线型地物等动态监测灵敏,且对数据获取无时空基线要求,在多云多雨城市地表要素变化检测中具备潜力。本文研究以多时相SAR强度RC合成图为数据源,提出一种基于色彩空间变换的变化图斑半自动提取方法,即通过色彩空间转换、训练样本选取、监督分类影像分割、变化区域提取4步骤,可实现基于SAR强度图的城市建设用地动态监测与图斑高效更新。选取南京河西新城与江北新区为示范,以最优参数配置（3特征向量与10样本类别）进行试验,实现了优于88%的建设用地查准率指标。     

Farmer-based Rice Cropping Systems in the Poyang Lake Region,China: Analysis of Characteristics and Policy Implications

This paper examines the spatial characteristics of farmer/household behaviors in regional rice cropping systems (RCS), and the results provide necessary information for developing strategies that will maintain regional food security. Through field study and statistical analysis based on 402 households questionnaires finished in 2014-2015 in the Poyang Lake Region (PLR) of China, we arrived at two main conclusions. First, single- and double cropping rice were found across the study area, but showed a general distribution trend, with double cropping rice in the southeast part (especially in Jinxian county) and single cropping rice in the northwest (particularly in De’an county). Second, the household decisions concerning RCS varied in different parts of the PLR, but double cropping was the dominant type, with about 63.57% of the respondent households in the PLR cultivating double cropping rice. However, the multiple-cropping index of paddy rice was only 1.55. About 3% of interviewed households had altered their RCS during this period. Based on these findings, the local governments should guide farmers’ paddy field cultivation behaviors by increasing the comparative efficiency of rice production, promoting appropriate scale operations and land conversion, as well as optimizing rice growing conditions to improve the multiple cropping index and enhance food provision. Finally, land-use efficiency and more sustainable use of land resources should be improved.     

Formation control of multiple underwater vehicles subject to communication faults and uncertainties

This paper proposes a novel approach to analyze and design the formation keeping control protocols for multiple underwater vehicles in the presence of communication faults and possible uncertainties. First, we formulate the considered vehicle model as the Port-controlled Hamiltonian form, and introduce the spring-damping system based formation control. Next, the dynamics of multiple underwater vehicles under uncertain relative information is reformulated as a network of Lur’e systems. Moreover, the agents under unknown disturbances generated by an external system are considered, where the internal model is applied to tackle the uncertainties, which still can be regulated as the Lur’e systems. In each case, the formation control is derived from solving LMI problems. Finally, a numerical example is introduced to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical approach.