A comparison of stress in surgically and non-surgically mulesed sheep

Summary A comparison has been made in 9- to 10-month-old castrated male Merino sheep of the changes in plasma total cortisol concentration and behaviour after being treated by either the modified Mules operation or by topical application of a quaternary ammonium compound to achieve non-surgical mulesing. After surgical mulesing, plasma total cortisol concentration increased immediately and rapidly and reached a peak value in 15 minutes, whereas after non-surgical treatment an immediate rise did not occur, but a similar peak value was observed in blood samples collected 24 hours after treatment. The concentrations were lower in both groups at 48 hours. Likewise postural changes indicative of discomfort were immediately apparent in the surgically treated sheep, but not until 3 to 4 hours later in those treated non-surgically. Arena testing revealed that a lasting aversion to the person who restrained them during treatment developed in the surgically mulesed sheep, but not in those treated non-surgically. The non-surgical procedure did not create large open wounds, as did the surgical operation, but still achieved similar enlargement of the bare area on the breech, and healing was quicker in the non-surgically treated sheep.     

Salivary and plasma cortisol as an index of stress in goats

Total assayable cortisol in plasma was highly correlated (r = 0.97) with physiologically active free cortisol in plasma after routine management procedures in 1- to 3-weeks-old goats. Transport of adult goats caused significant increases (P less than 0.001) in free cortisol in saliva and in free and total cortisol in plasma. No difference (P greater than 0.05) between concentrations of free cortisol in saliva and in plasma was apparent before or after transport. The results demonstrated that the salivary cortisol method is a useful measure of stress in adult goats, and that the relationship between free and total cortisol in plasma, and the adrenocortical response to transport, appear to be similar in sheep and goats.     

西藏草原畜牧业大发展探讨

西藏作为我国高寒牧区的中心 ,拥有广袤的草场 ,大量藏系家畜 ,畜牧业作为其支柱产业 ,居重要地位。加强对其畜牧业大发展的研究 ,在西部大开发中 ,显得尤为必要和紧迫 ,对增进国民经济发展具有深远而现实的意义     

Three minimum tile paths from bacterial artificial chromosome libraries of the soybean (Glycine max cv. 'Forrest'): tools for structural and functional genomics

Background  

The creation of minimally redundant tile paths (hereafter MTP) from contiguous sets of overlapping clones (hereafter contigs) in physical maps is a critical step for structural and functional genomics. Build 4 of the physical map of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv. 'Forrest') showed the 1 Gbp haploid genome was composed of 0.7 Gbp diploid, 0.1 Gbp tetraploid and 0.2 Gbp octoploid regions. Therefore, the size of the unique genome was about 0.8 Gbp. The aim here was to create MTP sub-libraries from the soybean cv. Forrest physical map builds 2 to 4.     

紫茎泽兰的危害特性及研究利用近况

紫茎泽兰是一种外来恶性杂草，大约解放前后侵入我国，目前已严重阻碍了农业牧业的发展，介绍了紫茎泽兰的生物学特性，基干和花的化学成分、危害机理，探讨了综合利用的可能性，公布了一项取得的阶段性成果。     

宁夏枸杞的生物学特性及开发利用前景

枸杞在我国栽培历史十分悠久，我国最早的诗歌总集《诗经》里就有上山采枸杞的记载。可见，早在2 000多年前的春秋时期，我国人民就知道栽培利用枸杞了。唐宋以来的医书及其他诗文，都有记述。在古代，枸杞主要分布在3个地区，一是甘肃的张掖(古称甘州)一带，产品称"甘枸杞"；二是宁夏中宁、中卫等地，产品称"西枸杞"；三是天津地区，据说是从宁夏引进的，产品称"津枸杞"。其中宁夏枸杞栽培历史悠久、品质优良、早已畅销全国，成为古代的贡品。如今，宁夏枸杞畅销国内外，成了宁夏的古老名牌产品，其开发利用前景十分广阔。     

阿拉善左旗灌木林主要林业有害生物危害及防治研究

灌木林是阿拉善左旗荒漠化地区主要的森林资源,由于气候、环境、病虫害发生的周期性和不合理的经济活动等多种因素的影响,全旗灌木林有害生物大面积持续发生,且危害日益加剧。文章对阿拉善左旗灌木林主要有害生物种类及危害情况进行了分析,将其分为食叶害虫、蛀干害虫、种实害虫、病害及鼠害5大类,综述了其发生危害特点和综合防治措施,并对灌木林有害生物的生物防治前景提出展望,以期为有效控制其危害提供理论依据。     

巨紫荆的育苗及栽培技术

巨紫荆(Cercis giganteanCheng etKeng f.)为苏木科落叶乔木,高可达15 m,属速生植物,寿命长。巨紫荆花的特点是多着生于1 a生的基部和2 a生以上的老枝上,成簇开花,花冠紫红色,花梗细长,为下垂总状花序,形似蝶形;4月前后先叶开放,花期约15 d。花后荚果长6~12 cm,先期绿色,并逐渐     

巯基坡缕石对镉砷复合污染土壤钝化修复及微生物群落的影响

为探究巯基坡缕石对镉(Cd)–砷(As)复合污染土壤的修复效果及其对土壤生态功能的影响,以Cd-As复合污染水稻土为研究对象,探究了1%、2%巯基坡缕石添加对土壤理化性质、Cd和As有效态的影响,并采用高通量测序技术分析了不同处理对土壤微生物群落结构的影响。结果表明:巯基坡缕石添加显著降低了土壤pH,其中2%处理下pH降低更明显。与对照相比,1%和2%巯基坡缕石处理下,土壤有机质含量分别增加了30.2%、60.9%,Cd的有效态含量与毒性特性浸出量分别降低了97.7%～98.3%、77.1%～92.7%,而As的有效性未发生显著变化。巯基坡缕石添加对土壤微生物多样性及丰度无显著影响,但属水平下Pseudanabaena＿NgrPSln22和Pseudomonas的相对丰度显著降低了85.4%～98.1%、75.3%～78.9%。巯基坡缕石处理下土壤微生物群落结构显著改变,其中pH和Cd的有效性是显著影响因素。总之,巯基坡缕石不仅能显著降低Cd有效性,提高土壤有机质含量,还会影响细菌群落结构,增加土壤抗病菌丰度和减少固氮菌丰度。