Food security, namely, the stability in availability of food for the population is important for the wellbeing and health of all mankind. In the modern world the destabilization of food the basic reasons of which are population growth, poverty, lack of investments into the agricultural industry, climate and weather, wars and resettlement, etc., is noted. The existing forecasts of the dynamics of population growth till 2050 are limited to 8-11 billion. The most part of this growth will accrue to the developing countries of Africa and Asia while the population of the developed countries, on average, will remain unchanged (except the United States of America due to international migration). The geographical distribution of undernourished people looks similarly, less than 5% of the population accrue to the developed countries, more than 12% - to the developing ones, on average in the world - more than 10%, with the prediction of further decrease. In spite of the fact that the percentage of mankind of the general biomass of our planet is insignificant, its activity is comprehended and anthropogenous as it became one of the most important forces changing processes in the biosphere. The interrelation of population growth and the necessary dynamics of food using the example of the protein, carbohydrate and fatty components in the world and in the former Soviet Union is considered in the work. The average forecast of population is used for the analysis. In case of the realization of the corresponding biotechnologies, the opportunity, if not of providing food security, then that of reduction of the number of undernourished people in the world, of food and energy resource conservation and of negative effect on the environment is quite achievable.

The article presents current status of the pig population in Poland and the reasons for its diminish in recent years. The main cause should be considered decline in the profitability of the production of pork, especially in farms with small-scale production. Dramatic drop in the number of pigs in farms occurred maintaining the herd to 200 units. Development opportunities are devoid farms living to 20 sows or sellers to 400 fattening pigs per year. Development opportunities are farms living 20–50 sows or selling annually 400–1000 pigs or piglets 500–1200. A fully competitive farms are sustained over 50 sows and selling over 1,000 fattening pigs per year, or more than 1,200 piglets. The main factor determining the profi tability of the pork production is its scale.

Combining means doubling the number of phases and internal capacitive reactive power compensation in asynchronous machine leads to active influence on quantitative indicators of the rotating magnetic field - one of the main actors and its principle of electromechanical energy conversion process. An asynchronous machine offset increased energy efficiency.

Non-PR | IFPRI5; CRP2; Capacity Strengthening; DCA; D Transforming Agriculture | DSGD; PIM | CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

Studies on reproductive modes, size at maturity, clutch size and clutch frequency have contributed greatly to our understanding of life history variation among lizard populations, and thereby, to implement conservation strategies. Herein, we studied the reproductive biology of the vulnerable tegu lizard Kentropyx viridistriga from Corrientes, northeastern Argentina (Wet Chaco). Kentropyx viridistriga are active from early summer to late autumn, with temperature and photoperiod influencing the timing of reproduction and the brumation period. Females showed an annual reproductive cycle, and males exhibited a continuous reproductive cycle during the activity season. Females laid at least two clutches of on average three eggs per reproductive season. Neonates occured in spring, and reached sexual maturity in the first year of life. Females reached sexual maturity at a larger snout-vent length (64.1 mm) than males (54.8 mm). Sexual dimorphism is evident, with males showing greater head size and longer tails than females, while females exhibit larger interlimb length than males. This study reveals that the reproductive strategy of K. viridistriga is adjusted to the environmental conditions of the southernmost distribution for the genus.

Spatial pattern of grassland community affects ecological processes, and the number of plant individuals is important to evaluate community dynamics as the fundamental ecological parameter of plant species, but so far few studies have dealt with spatial pattern of the number of plant individuals in grassland community. The research we present here explores whether the power law model can be used to evaluate spatial heterogeneity of the number of plant individuals of species in grassland community. As reference data, surveys of individuals were conducted on a natural grassland and a weed community, following random sampling method using 100 0.5 m×0.5m quadrats. We recorded the number of plant individuals of each species occurring in each quadrat. Our results show that (1) the power law model fits well to the spatial pattern of number of plant individuals, (2) the power law model can be applied to evaluate the spatial pattern of number of plant individuals in grassland community, and (3) spatial heterogeneity index value (δ) was positively associated with the average number of plant individuals (m) of species. Our research provides a new application of the power law model to study spatial heterogeneity of grassland community.

The study evaluates the associations of the farm herd size (HERD), the milk yield (MY, kg/cow per year), and cows per worker (CW) with the production, reproduction, and economic traits in 60 commercial dairy herds (34 633 cows) in the Czech Republic. Each parameter was split into 3 groups. The largest herds (≥ 750 cows) had the highest profitability of costs without subsidies (-3.8 ± 4.3%), the lowest cost for roughages (1.2 CZK/L milk), and the lowest cost for breeding operations (0.17 CZK/L milk), but the highest costs for the cereal grains and concentrates (2.4 CZK/L milk). Herds with the lowest MY (≤ 7 499) had the lowest profitability of costs without subsidies (-15.8 ± 3.93%), the highest total costs (9.27 CZK/L milk), the highest labour costs (1.6 CZK/L milk), and the highest cow depreciation costs (0.97 CZK/L milk). Herds with the lowest CW (≤ 39) had the highest mean labour costs (1.51 CZK/L milk) and the highest costs for breeding operations (0.22 CZK/L milk). Herds with the highest CW (≥ 60) and the lowest CW (≤ 39) also differed in the total feed costs (4.1 vs. 3.73 CZK/L milk) and the costs of cereals and concentrates (2.34 vs. 1.96 CZK/L milk). The increasing herd size tended to be accompanied by higher milk yields and the overall efficiency.

In order to consider the potential for electricity supply from a biogas power generation system (BGP) located adjacent to a livestock barn, the power balance was determined by using both simulation and actual measurement. Examination of power balances at the barn and the BGP showed that a certain amount of electricity for supply could be secured based on load leveling in both tie-stall barns and free-stall barns. BGPs are a viable renewable energy (RE) power source that can produce enough electricity for system operation and maintenance as well as a significant surplus of supply for power companies and other users. BGPs have the potential to allow output control appropriate for the relevant amount of gas storage. Further, output control based on the use of a gas holder in combination with changes in the number of biogas generators could allow more efficient usage of biogas. Specifically, the range of power output adjustment can be widened through parallel operation of several biogas generators, instead of a single generator. In other words, one biogas generator uses a constant power supply, and the other uses it to control the output for the related amount of gas storage. In this way, the possibility of achieving a constant electricity output through biogas power generation system and a regulated power supply was demonstrated.

Synthetic dyes are known to be highly toxic to mammalian cells and mutagenic and carcinogenic to humans and, therefore, should be detoxified and removed from industrial effluents. Different approaches for removal and detoxication are extensively sought. Biochemical methods are considered the most economical and effective method of dye decolourization. In this research, the laccase gene from Laccaria bicolor was modified and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The properties of the recombinant laccase and its ability to degrade synthetic dyes were studied. The laccase activity was optimal at pH 2.2 and 50 °C. Its Kₘ value was 0.187 mmol/L for ABTS [2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)]. The laccase obtained was shown to decolorize the synthetic dyes, malachite green, crystal violet and orange G, with ABTS as a mediator. These results indicated that the laccase obtained may be used to treat industrial effluents containing artificial dyes.

In this study we determined protein and gene expression in the caeca of newly hatched chickens inoculated with cecal contents sourced from hens of different ages. Over 250 proteins exhibited modified expression levels in response to microbiota inoculation. The most significant inductions were observed for ISG12-2, OASL, ES1, LYG2, DMBT1-L, CDD, ANGPTL6, B2M, CUZD1, IgM and Ig lambda chain. Of these, ISG12-2, ES1 and both immunoglobulins were expressed at lower levels in germ-free chickens compared to conventional chickens. In contrast, CELA2A, BRT-2, ALDH1A1, ADH1C, AKR1B1L, HEXB, ALDH2, ALDOB, CALB1 and TTR were expressed at lower levels following inoculation of microbiota. When chicks were given microbiota preparations from different age donors, the recipients mounted differential responses to the inoculation which also differed from the response profile in naturally colonised birds. For example, B2M, CUZD1 and CELA2A responded differently to the inoculation with microbiota of 4- or 40-week-old hens. The increased or decreased gene expression could be recorded 6 weeks after the inoculation of newly hatched chickens. To characterise the proteins that may directly interact with the microbiota we characterised chicken proteins that co-purified with the microbiota and identified a range of host proteins including CDD, ANGPTL6, DMBT1-L, MEP1A and Ig lambda. We propose that induction of ISG12-2 results in reduced apoptosis of host cells exposed to the colonizing commensal microbiota and that CDD, ANGPTL6, DMBT1-L, MEP1A and Ig lambda reduce contact of luminal microbiota with the gut epithelium thereby reducing the inflammatory response.