Effects of music stimulus on behavior response,cortisol level,and horizontal immunity of growing pigs

An enriched environment is widely used to improve domestic animals’ welfare and promote their natural behaviors. Music can reduce abnormal behavior in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents. However, little is known about the effects of music on pigs. This study aims to explore the effects of repeated music stimulation on the behavior, physiology, and immunity of growing pigs. A total of 72 hybrid piglets (Large White × Duroc × Minpig) were randomly divided into three groups, including music (Mozart K.448, 60 to 70 dB), noise (recorded mechanical noise, 80 to 85 dB), and control (natural background sound, <40 dB), and 6 h sound stimulation was given per day (1000 to 1600 hours) from 40 to 100 d of age. The behavioral activities of the pigs were observed during the music stimulation, and their serum cortisol, salivary cortisol, and serum immune indices were also measured. Compared with the control group, the music group and noise group increased activity but decreased lying of pigs (P < 0.05). A significant increase in tail-wagging, playing, and exploring behaviors of pigs was found in the music group (P < 0.05), and the noise significantly increased the aggressive behavior of the pigs (P < 0.05). Tail-wagging, playing, exploring, manipulating, and aggressive behaviors decreased over time. Short-term (8 d) music stimulus had a lower cortisol level than that of the noise and control groups (P < 0.05), whereas long-term (60 d) music stimulus increased immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels (P < 0.05) and decreased interleukin-4 (IL-4) level (P < 0.05). Long-term noise stimulus significantly reduced the level of IgG (P < 0.05) but did not affect the level of IL-2, IL-4, and IFN-γ levels (P > 0.05). In conclusion, short-term music stimulus (8 d) reduced the stress response, whereas long-term music stimulus (60 d) enhanced the immune responses. In addition, the noise increased the aggressive behavior, and long-term noise reduced the immunity of the growing pigs.     

低风险疾病情境下农村居民健康信息规避行为研究

[目的/意义]本研究旨在揭示低风险疾病情境下农村居民健康信息规避的程度、策略、成因及其关联。[方法/过程]研究采用理论抽样方法和半结构化访谈法收集了江苏省45位农村居民的相关数据。研究采用开放式编码和主轴编码方法对访谈数据进行分析,同时采用社会网络分析软件对规避策略和成因之间的关系进行可视化展示。[结果/结论]（1）农村居民在低风险疾病情境下存在全面型和选择型两种不同程度的健康信息规避。其中,全面型健康信息规避主要发生在信息需求阶段,具体的规避策略为完全不治疗;而选择型信息规避发生在信息获取阶段,具体的规避策略为自己治疗或者拖延治疗。（2）该情境下农村居民健康信息规避的成因主要包括感知风险、对信息源的信任、健康信息素养水平、文化水平、情绪、经济水平、小世界、时间和医疗资源的可及性。（3）农民健康信息规避的成因与规避策略存在特定的关联。文化水平和医疗资源的可及性只对完全不治疗规避策略有影响;情绪因素只对拖延治疗规避策略有影响;健康信息素养水平只对自己治疗规避策略有影响。该研究可为改善农村居民的健康状况提供指导建议。     

鸡皮刺螨实验室饲养与繁殖技术研究进展

鸡皮刺螨是一种吸血性外寄生虫,会引起鸡消瘦、贫血,并导致产蛋下降,造成巨大经济损失。为给科研提供可靠虫源,并对杀螨药物、疫苗以及其他防控手段进行效果评价,国内外学者进行了鸡皮刺螨实验室的人工饲养与繁殖技术研究。文章综述了国内外鸡皮刺螨实验室饲养与繁殖技术的研究进展,将其总结归纳为使用动物饲养繁殖技术与离体饲养繁殖技术两类,同时指出了各项技术在应用过程中存在的问题,为该技术的进一步完善与发展提供相关参考。     

饲养系统和日粮对羔羊屠宰性能和肌肉矿物质含量的影响

文章旨在探讨不同饲养系统和日粮对羔羊生长、屠宰性能及肌肉矿物质含量的影响。试验将平均体重为（13.97±0.55）kg的120只羔羊随机分为3组，每组4个重复，每个重复10只。T1组在室内饲喂基础浓缩料，每天补充100 g稻草，T2组在室内饲喂基础浓缩料，每天补充100 g稻草和锌硒复合矿物质（0.2 mg/d硒，50 mg/d锌），T3组在室外放牧，除了采食苜蓿草外，每天额外补充100 g稻草和100 g燕麦。试验时间为9周。结果：T1和T2组羔羊的末重、日增重、半胴体重、下肢深度、下肢重量、眼肌面积、颈、胸肌、肾重量均显著高于T3组（P＜0.05），但骨盆骨重量显著低于T3组（P＜0.05）。各处理组羔羊的可食用部分和骨盆肌肉重量无显著差异（P＞0.05）。T2组63 d羔羊血液硒含量较T1和T3组分别显著提高了19.83%和25.0%（P＜0.05），血液锌含量较T1和T3组分别显著提高了31.71%和45.91%（P＜0.05）。T3组羔羊肌肉钙含量较T1和T2组分别显著提高了8.79%和5.37%（P＜0.05）。T2羔羊肌肉硒和锌含量较T1和T3组分别显著提高了41.18%、65.52%和38.19%、46.15%（P＜0.05），T2和T3组羔羊肌肉钾含量较T1组分别显著提高了3.27%和4.28%（P＜0.05）。结论：在本试验条件下，放牧羔羊胴体的脂肪含量低于室内饲养的羔羊，室外放牧可以提高肌肉钙和钾含量，但肌肉硒含量降低。 [关键词]饲养系统|羔羊|屠宰性能|矿物质     

镇江长江豚类省级自然保护区水域生态修复效果的监测与评价

自2006年以来,长江豚类极度濒危的生存状况得到广泛关注,在其自然保护区实施一系列生态修复工程,为镇江长江豚类省级自然保护区内的江豚提供良好的生存环境。于2015—2018年在和畅洲水域建设生态浮岛、人工鱼巢和放流底栖动物进行水域生态修复,对生态修复工程进行跟踪监测和效果评价。结果表明：生态浮岛的建设可提高区域内浮游植物和浮游动物的生物多样性和群落结构复杂程度;人工鱼巢对产黏性卵鱼类具有一定增殖效果,增殖种类主要为鲤、鲫、䱗和黄尾鲴;生态浮岛和人工鱼巢的建设对鱼类均有较好的聚集效果;底栖动物增殖放流显著增加了放流物种的丰度、生物量及保护区底栖动物群落生物量,增殖放流效果评价为中等。该自然保护区水域生态修复效果明显,为工程施工影响下水生生物保护区生态修复提供科学依据。     

Experimental investigation on the transport of different fish species in a jet fish pump

A jet fish pump with a throat of ø60 mm was designed to study its performance in the transport of different fish species and the physiological changes in fish thereafter. Experiments were conducted to investigate the fish transport rate and energy required to transport each ton of fish when transporting Carassius auratus, commonly known as the Chinese goldfish, Megalobrama amblycephala, or Wuchang bream, and Ctenopharyngodon idella, the grass carp. Fish were examined for external injuries as well as for several important enzymes and hormones which are indicators of tissue injury and stress. The results showed that the transport rate for all three species of fish rose dramatically with an increase in the primary stream rate. In this experiment, the transport rates of C. auratus, M. amblycephala and C. idella reached 2357 ± 37.2 kg ∙ h⁻¹, 2888 ± 41.6 kg ∙ h⁻¹, and 2060 ± 40.2 kg ∙ h⁻¹, respectively. However, both injury rate and energy required to transport each ton of fish increased no matter whether the primary stream rate was too low or too high. Considering both transport rate and injury rate, the mean primary stream rate of 80 m³ ∙ h⁻¹ was determined to be the optimal operating condition in this experiment. Fish were stressed and most likely some of their organs were damaged. However, most physiological indexes almost fully recovered after several hours.     

Large‐scale patterns of fish diversity and assemblage structure in the longest tropical river in Asia

Although the Mekong River is one of the world's 35 biodiversity hot spots, the large‐scale patterns of fish diversity and assemblage structure remain poorly addressed. This study aimed to investigate the fish distribution patterns in the Lower Mekong River (LMR) and to identify their environmental determinants. Daily fish catch data (i.e. from December 2000 to November 2001) at 38 sites distributed along the LMR were related to 15 physicochemical and 19 climatic variables. As a result, four different clusters were defined according to the similarity in assemblage composition and 80 indicator species were identified. While fish species richness was highest in the Mekong delta and lowest in the upper part of the LMR, the diversity index was highest in the middle part of the LMR and lowest in the delta. We found that fish assemblages changed along the environmental gradients and that the main drivers affecting the fish assemblage structure were the seasonal variation of temperature, precipitation, dissolved oxygen, pH and total phosphorus. Specifically, upstream assemblages were characterised by cyprinids and Pangasius catfish, well suited to low temperature, high dissolved oxygen and high pH. Fish assemblages in the delta were dominated by perch‐like fish and clupeids, more tolerant to high temperatures, and high levels of nutrients (nitrates and total phosphorus) and salinity. Overall, the patterns were consistent between seasons. Our study contributes to establishing the first holistic fish community study in the LMR.     

Replacement of fish oil in plant‐based diets for Pacific white shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei,by stearine fish oil and palm oil

Stearine fish oil (SFO) and palm oil (PO) have emerged as promising alternatives for the replacement of fish oil (FO) in aquafeeds. This study evaluated the replacement of FO with alternative oils in practical diets for Litopenaeus vannamei. In a clear brackish water study (14.1 g/L) utilizing shrimp (0.29 ± 0.02 g, initial weight), FO was replaced by SFO at inclusion ratios of 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100 (FO:SFO) and PO as 90% of FO. After 55 days, no significant differences (p < 0.05) in final weight, growth, or survival of shrimp were observed. A second trial (8 weeks) in low‐salinity water (2.1 g/L) with shrimp (0.92 ± 0.02 g, initial weight) evaluated diets with 100% FO, 100% SFO, 90% PO, 90% soybean oil (SO), or 90% flaxseed oil (FXO) as a replacement for FO and four commercially produced diets with 2% of FO, SO, PO, or FXO. One treatment received half rations of the commercial FO diet, and one treatment was based entirely on natural productivity. Results show that the fatty acid profiles of the tail muscle conformed to the lipids of the feed, and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) were preserved. Following 8 weeks of culture, there were no significant differences in production performance.     

设施畜牧业关键技术研究态势分析

[目的/意义]目前中国畜牧业正处于加快转型的重要时期,了解相关技术的发展态势对于畜牧业的发展具有一定的借鉴意义。[方法/过程]本文以设施畜牧业领域技术研发的3个主要方向：笼舍技术、饲喂饮水技术和环境控制技术的相关专利为研究对象,利用专利计量的方法对其发展趋势、技术分支、申请人、各阶段重点专利等进行了分析。[结果/结论]笼舍、饲喂饮水和环境控制技术发展同步经历了萌芽期、波动发展期、快速发展期3个阶段,当前申请量呈现直线上升的态势;技术研发主体以企业为主,各研发单位之间技术布局差异性明显;近些年重点专利中的国内专利明显增多;笼舍技术方面装置研发均侧重于粪尿清除、垫板等技术;饲喂饮水技术方面饲喂技术的研究多于饮水技术,且均侧重于研发自动化设备;环境控制技术侧重于废弃物处理技术、空气调节技术和房舍清洁刷洗技术。