Assessing swine thermal comfort by image analysis of postural behaviors

Postural behavior is an integral response of animals to complex environmental factors. Huddling, nearly contacting one another on the side, and spreading are common postural behaviors of group-housed animals undergoing cold, comfortable, and warm/hot sensations, respectively. These postural patterns have been routinely used by animal caretakers to assess thermal comfort of the animals and to make according adjustment on the environmental settings or management schemes. This manual adjustment approach, however, has the inherent limitations of daily discontinuity and inconsistency between caretakers in interpretation of the animal comfort behavior. The goal of this project was to explore a novel, automated image analysis system that would assess the thermal comfort of swine and make proper environmental adjustments to enhance animal wellbeing and production efficiency. This paper describes the progress and on-going work toward the achievement of our proposed goal. The feasibility of classifying the thermal comfort state of young pigs by neural network (NN) analysis of their postural images was first examined. It included exploration of using certain feature selections of the postural behavioral images as the input to a three-layer NN that was trained to classify the corresponding thermal comfort state as being cold, comfortable, or warm. The image feature selections, a critical step for the classification, examined in this study included Fourier coefficient (FC), moment (M), perimeter and area (P&A), and combination of M and P&A of the processed binary postural images. The result was positive, with the combination of M and P&A as the input feature to the NN yielding the highest correct classification rate. Subsequent work included the development of hardware and computational algorithms that enable automatic image segmentation, motion detection, and the selection of the behavioral images suitable for use in the classification. Work is in progress to quantify the relationships of postural behavior and physiological responses of pigs using thermographs. The results are expected to facilitate objective training of NN, hence improving the accuracy of the postural image-based assessment of the thermal comfort state. Work is also in progress to implement the analysis and assessment algorithms into computer codes for real-time application.     

The bovine neutrophil: Structure and function in blood and milk

Migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophil leukocytes (PMN) into the mammary gland provide the first line of defense against invading mastitis pathogens. Bacteria release potent toxins that activate white blood cells and epithelial cells in the mammary gland to secrete cytokines that recruit PMN that function as phagocytes at the site of infection. While freshly migrated PMN are active phagocytes, continued exposure of PMN to inhibitory factors in milk such as fat globules and casein, leads to altered PMN morphology and reduced phagocytosis. In the course of phagocytosing and destroying invading pathogens, PMN release chemicals that not only kill the pathogens but that also cause injury to the delicate lining of the mammary gland. This will result in permanent scarring and reduced numbers of milk secretory cells. The life span of PMN is limited by the onset of apoptosis. To minimize damage to mammary tissue, PMN undergo a specialized process of programmed cell death known as apoptosis. Macrophages quickly engulf and phagocytose apoptotic PMN, thereby minimizing the release of PMN granular contents that are damaging to tissue. The PMN possess an array of cell surface receptors that allow them to adhere and migrate through endothelium and to recognize and phagocytose bacteria. One receptor found on phagocytes that is receiving considerable attention in the control of infections by Gram-negative bacteria is CD14. Binding of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to membrane bound CD14 causes release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and sepsis. Binding of LPS to soluble CD14 shed from CD14-bearing cells results in neutralization of LPS and rapid recruitment of PMN to the site of infection. Recent advances in the fields of genomics and proteomics should greatly enhance our understanding of the PMN role in controlling intramammary infections in ruminants. Further, manipulation of PMN, through either recombinant proteins such as soluble CD14 that enhance PMN response or agents that mediate PMN apoptosis, may serve as novel therapeutics for the treatment of mastitis.     

猪粪对环境的污染及其处理与利用技术

随着养猪业的迅猛发展，猪排泄物所造成的环境污染问题日益严峻，因此，探索猪粪无害化处理方法和综合利用途径势在必行。这里就猪粪对环境的污染原因及其处理与利用技术现状进行了综述．并指出了处理利用猪排泄物时应注意的问题。     

甘肃天祝高寒地区5种灌木中酚类物质含量的研究

对甘肃天祝金强河高寒地区5种灌木中的酚类物质含量进行了测定和比较分析。结果表明,不同的灌木品种其酚类物质的含量不同。藏沙棘总酚,单宁和缩合单宁的干物质含量均高于其他灌木,分别高达69.67,63.34和42.45 g/kg,而其简单酚的干物质含量最低,仅为4.27 g/kg。窄叶鲜卑木的酚类物质含量较低,与其他灌木相比差异极显著(P<0.01)。相关性分析表明,单宁和简单酚含量呈显著的正相关关系(r=0.94,P<0.01),与缩合单宁的相关系数为r=0.82(P<0.05),而简单酚与缩合单宁含量呈不显著的负相关关系。     

猪链球菌多价灭活疫苗对实验小鼠免疫效果的研究

临床分离的猪链球菌经随机扩增多态性DNA分析，挑选出4株毒力强。免疫原性好且遗传距离较远的猪链球菌作为疫苗株，研制出猪链球菌病氢氧化铝胶多价灭活疫苗。该疫苗对实验小鼠安全性好，无不良反应。实验室的小鼠免疫效力试验证实该苗的保护率为100％，优于单价灭活疫苗和猪链球菌病活疫苗。     

胰腺干细胞的研究进展

概述了胰腺干细胞的分布、胰腺的发生、胰腺干细胞的相关标记物以及胰腺干细胞的体外分离培养、增殖、分化等领域的研究进展，并对胰腺干细胞的生物学特征、体外分离培养时遇到的困难等进行了探讨，针对所遇到的困难提出了一些改进意见。     

16S rRNA基因及外膜蛋白基因分析在鸭疫里默氏菌鉴定中的应用

本实验对鸭疫里默氏菌（包括6个血清型）、大肠杆菌、鼠伤寒沙门氏菌和多杀性巴氏杆菌进行了16S rRNA基因片段的扩增和测序，并将测序结果进行了同源性比较和酶切分析；同时根据标准血清2型鸭疫里默氏菌外膜蛋白的基因序列设计一对引物进行扩增。根据16S rRNA的测序结果及EcoRⅠ和HaeⅢ酶切片段分析，可将鸭疫里默氏菌与其它临床症状易混淆的细菌感染相区别，而外膜蛋白基因序列的特异性也为鸭疫里默氏菌的鉴别诊断提供了一种快速、准确的PCR鉴定方法。     

奶牛隐性乳房炎与乳区、胎次、年龄等相关因素的调查

奶牛乳房炎是奶牛场的常发病和难以防治的疾病之一。特别是奶牛隐性乳房炎，由于无明显的临床症状，发病率高，目前仍是危害世界乳业发展的重要因素之一。     

福建中、东部养殖贝类质量状况调查

2003～2005年对福建中、东部沿海的主要贝类养殖区养殖贝类进行质量抽检,品种包括菲律宾蛤仔、文蛤、牡蛎、贻贝及缢蛏,检测项目为汞、铅、砷、镉、石油烃等,并对检测结果进行分析讨论,结果表明大部分贝类产品卫生质量状况良好。     

奶牛营养平衡与需要量

随着我国奶牛业的快速发展,奶牛对日粮营养平衡的要求越来越高,而正确理解奶牛的营养需要对制定营养平衡的日粮配方非常重要。本文主要从能量、蛋白质、纤维、矿物质和维生素方面探讨奶牛的适宜营养需要量。