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Agroecology represents a pertinent option to improve the sustainability of agriculture. To promote its application, agroecological concepts should be taught to students and professionals in the agricultural sector. However, most agricultural courses are not adapted to teach these concepts due to little interactivity or interdisciplinarity, and a lack of a systems approach to farm management. Serious games help to fill these gaps by simulating complex models in which players can learn by doing. We thus developed a serious computer game, called SEGAE (SErious Game for AgroEcology learning), which represents a mixed crop-livestock farm and assesses impacts of farming practices on indicators related to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Its pedagogical interest was evaluated through two types of surveys given to university students who played the game during a one-week workshop: A knowledge survey on agroecology, and a feedback survey based on flow theory. Results showed that students increased their knowledge of agroecology significantly, particularly those who had had little knowledge of crop production. More than 86% of the students enjoyed the game, appreciating its interaction and feedback. Thus, SEGAE is an interesting tool to help students acquire knowledge of agroecology in a fun way by facilitating interdisciplinary and collaborative learning.

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) as well as chicken (CES) or duck eggshells (DES) left over from the artificial hatching technology are proposed as potential soil improver and/or organic-mineral fertiliser components. Therefore, it seems interesting and necessary to evaluate the chemical composition of these wastes and their mixtures in terms of their possible use for that purpose. The study was conducted under the incubation experiment conditions using a mixture of SCG and eggshells (10:1 ratio). Macronutrients, i.e. C, N, S, were determined by the catalytic combustion method, while P, K, Mg, Ca, Na by atomic spectrometry. It was found that SCG were rich in C, N, P, and K, while eggshells in Ca, Mg, Na, and S. However, CES compared to DES were richer in deacidifying components (i.e. Ca, Mg, K). At the same time, the content of macronutrients in eggshells decreased gradually along with the embryo development. For this reason, the mixture of SCG and shells of unembryonated chicken eggs (CES I) had the best chemical and usable proprieties. To conclude, the chemical properties of the mixtures of spent coffee grounds and eggshells indicate their possible application in soil bioengineering.

Hematological alterations in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) exposed to herbicides: pendimethalin and ethofumesate tested separately and in mixture. Folia Biologica (Kraków) 63: 167-174. Herbicides are used in large amounts in agriculture and the evaluation of their toxic effects is of major concern to environmental safety. The aim of the present study was to investigate common carp hematological alterations caused by herbicide exposure. Fish were treated with pendimethalin and ethofumesate tested separately and in mixture administered to aquarium water. Peripheral blood of treated fish was collected after 1, 3 and 7 days of exposure and compared to control. The total number of erythrocytes (RBC), total number of leukocytes (WBC), hematocrit value (Hct), total hemoglobin concentration (Hb), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and leukograms were determined at once. The results indicate that herbicide exposure caused different changes in the hematological profile of the fish. In the case of exposure to individual herbicides, short-term fluctuations of various hematological indices were noted. Moreover, a significant increase in RBC and Hct after a short period of exposure (1-3 days) in fish exposed simultaneously to both tested herbicides was observed. Exposure to herbicides affected the leukocyte profile after 3 and 7 days of duration. Fluctuations of hematological parameters are a typical change in fish exposed to pesticides.