Soil macrofauna in green manures preceding cotton growing / Macrofauna do solo em adubos verdes antecessoras ao cultivo do algodão

The objective of this work was to evaluate the abundance of the soil macrofauna in four green manure species, before the cotton crop. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four treatments: Mucuna pruriens (gray mucuna), Canavalia ensiformes (pork bean), Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea) and Crotalaria juncea (crotalaria). The macrofauna was captured by means of collections with collections using pitfall traps. The data were processed through the cluster analysis to verify the similarity among green manure species as to the occurrence of soil macrofauna. The orders Orthoptera, Coleoptera L (Larval), Hymenoptera and Coleoptera (adult), respectively, had the highest local relative abundance. There was a significant effect of the cover plants on the taxonomic groups and relative density of the soil macrofauna. Green manures were more determinant in the abundance and relative density of the soil macrofauna than the region climate. Up to 60 days after sowing the cotton crop, there was a beneficial influence of the green manures on the soil macrofauna.

Objetivou-se avaliar a abundância da macrofauna do solo em quatro espécies de adubos verdes, antecedendo a cultura do algodão. O experimento foi instalado na Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul - Unidade Experimental de Aquidauana, MS. O delineamento experimental adotado foi em blocos ao acaso com quatro tratamentos: Mucuna pruriens (mucuna cinza), Canavalia ensiformes (feijão de porco), Cajanus cajan (guandu anão)e Crotalaria juncea (crotalária) e quatro repetições.A macrofauna foi capturada por meio de coletas com armadilhas modelo Pitfall.Os dados foram processados mediantes a análise de agrupamento para verificar a similaridade entre as espécies de adubação verde quanto à ocorrência da macrofauna do solo.A maior abundância relativa local foram as ordens, Orthoptera, Coleoptera L (Larva), Hymenoptera e Coleoptera respectivamente. Houve efeito significativo das plantas de cobertura sobre os grupos taxonômicos e densidade relativa da macrofauna edáfica. Os adubos verdes foram mais determinantes na abundância e densidade relativa da macrofauna do solo que o clima da região. Até os 60 dias de implantação da cultura do algodão, houve influência benéfica dos adubos verdes sobre a população da macrofauna do solo.

Changes of Somatotypes and Body Proportions in Korean Youths / 체질인류학회지

The aim of the present study is to try to quantify the changes in somatotypes and to determine, if any, the distinctive features of young Koreans while they are growing. It is based on the data offered by the Korean National survey of 1997 and the subjects taken in account were those ranging from 6 to 17 years of age. The analized contents used by us here were the annual growth rates, the body shape grouping by canonical analysis statistical method and body proportion rate changes. 1. The result for the growth rates showed that youngsters have their peak growth velocity between 12 and 14 years of age in case of boys and between 8 and 10 in case of girls. 2. The result for the body shape grouping shows that, the body type of the young childhood (from 6 to 9 years of age), the body type of the puberty (from 10 to 12 years of age) and the body type of the junior adolescent (from 13 to 15 years of age), thus, leads us to distinguish 3 groups. 3. As examples of items body proportion rates, we found for instance that the ratio of the span for the height was 0.996H in case of grown males Korean between 18~24 years of age, 0.994H for ages from 25 to 50, and in case of grown females 0.984H for ages 18~24 and 0.985H for ages 25~50, showing then a slightly longer ratio for males. There was no noticable differences though betwen the two big age groups (18~24 years of age and 25~50 years of age). 4. Body proportion rates showed also that the grown-up body features were attained in average both for boys and girls, around the age of 13 years.

Study on Correlation Between Air Pollution and Children Outpatient Visits in Taiyuan / 环境与健康杂志

Objective To study the adverse effects of air pollution on children's health. Methods Based on statistical data on monthly outpatient visits of Shanxi Provincial Children Hospital, the monitoring data on air pollution and meteorological factors during 1995～1997 in Taiyuan, a correlation analysis on the levels of air pollutants and monthly children outpatient visits was carried out. Results The monthly means of both TSP and SO2 were over the National Air Quality Standard of grade Ⅱ. The level of TSP in air was 1.77 times as high as the national standard. The children outpatient visits to department of internal medicine made up the largest proportion in the hospital (60.72%). Canonical correlation analysis revealed that the levels of SO2 in air gave a greatest contribution (?=0.9901), air temperature did less than air humidity, and the levels of air pollutants did more than meteorological factors to children health damage. Compared with different departments in hospital, the outpatients of department of internal medicine provided the largest share in the total outpatients visits (?=2.2793), then did the emergence department of internal medicine (?=1.9201). Conclusion The more close correlation of air pollution and the children outpatient visits was mainly observed between the levels of SO2 and the outpatient visits to the departments of emergency and internal medicine. The air pollution in Taiyuan had caused adverse effects on children's health to a certain extent.