Growth,feed efficiency and blood profile of buffalo calves consuming high levels of fluoride

Twelve male buffalo calves of 10 to 12 months of age were divided into 3 groups of four each. They were fed wheat straw+concentrate mixture +3 Kg greens. The chemical composition of the diet was same in all the three groups except fluoride which was added (as NaF) in concentrate mixture of group B and C to make the final fluoride concentration 30 ppm and 60 ppm respectively. The animals were kept on scheduled diet for a period of 90 days. Body weights were recorded at the start of the experiment and at fortnightly interval thereafter. Analysis of data revealed that the dry matter intake decreased non significantly in group B and C as compared to control group. A significant decrease in serum calcium and a significant increase in phosphorus concentration were observed in group C animals. A significant increase was observed in alkaline phosphatase activity in group C animals. A non significant decrease was observed in T₄ values in group C animals. On the basis of these results it could be concluded that fluoride in the diet of buffalo calves @ 30 ppm is a safe level whereas 60 ppm has affected the blood metabolites.     

紫花苜蓿根系主要功能性状对分根区交替灌溉的响应

分根区交替灌溉是一种具有节水潜力的灌溉方式,为了揭示紫花苜蓿(Medicago sativa L.)根系对分根区交替灌溉的响应,在甘肃武威绿洲农业高效用水国家野外科学观测研究站设置3种占田间持水量(Field capacity, FC)不同比例的灌水梯度(T1:80%～100%FC,T2:60%～80%FC,T3:40%～60%FC)去开展分根区交替灌溉与不分根区灌溉的对比试验。结果表明：分根区交替灌溉在80%～100%FC灌水量时,根颈直径小于不分根区灌溉,60%～80%FC和40%～60%FC灌水量时,根颈直径大于不分根区灌溉。分根区交替灌溉的根系分支多于不分根区灌溉,但根平均直径小于不分根区灌溉。两种灌溉方式下紫花苜蓿地上部和地下部的生物量均随着灌水量梯度的下降而下降。同一灌水梯度下,不分根区灌溉的地下和地上生物量均高于分根区交替灌溉。上述结果说明紫花苜蓿采用分根区交替灌溉方式对根系生长发育具有重要影响。     

硬肉大果型番茄新品种北研1号的选育

北研1号是以05B-91为母本,以05B-93为父本配制而成的硬肉大果型番茄一代杂种。无限生长类型,中早熟,生育期 106 d（天）左右。成熟果红色,扁圆形,无绿肩,可溶性固形物含量4.8 %,VC 114.4 mg·kg^-1,可溶性总糖2.7 %。抗叶 霉病、ToMV,果实硬度0.84 kg·cm^-2,耐贮运,平均单果质量192.7 g,每667 m²产量6 000 kg左右,全国各地保护地、露 地均可栽培。     

Changes in fox squirrel anti-predator behaviors across the urban–rural gradient

Predator stimuli created by humans in the urban environment may alter animals’ anti-predator behaviors. I hypothesized that habituation would cause anti-predator behaviors to decrease in urban settings in response to humans. Additionally, I hypothesized that populations habituated to humans would show reduced responses to other predator stimuli. I observed three populations of squirrels (urban, suburban and rural) responses to human approaches, red-tailed hawk vocalizations (Buteo jamaicensis) and coyote (Canis latrans) vocalizations. Mahalanobis distances of anti-predator behaviors in response to human approaches were consistent with the urban–rural gradient. Flight initiation distances (X ² = 26.33, df = 2, P < 0.001) and amount of time dedicated to anti-predator behavior (X ² = 10.94, df = 2, P = 0.004) in response to human approaches were also consistent with the urban–rural gradient. Supporting the habituation hypothesis, naive juvenile squirrels increased flight initiation distances (X ² = 35.89, df = 1, P < 0.001) and time dedicated to anti-predator behaviors (X ² = 9.46, df = 1, P = 0.002) relative to adult squirrels in the same urban environment. Time dedicated to anti-predator behaviors differed among all three sites in response to both coyote (X ² = 9.83, df = 2, P = 0.007) and hawk (X ² = 6.50, df = 2, P = 0.035) vocalizations. Responses to both vocalizations on rural sites (coyote = 45%, hawk = 55%) greater than twice that found on the urban sites (coyote = 11%, hawk = 20%). This is possibly the first case of a transfer of habituation demonstrated under field conditions.     

北京市马属动物赛事监管制度的建立

通过对近年来重大马术活动的监管,结合《北京市动物防疫条例》的实施,北京市逐步形成马属动物展览演出比赛的“赛事报告、报检报验、档案记录、防疫条件审查、隔离观察、赛中监管、应急预备和宣传告知”八大监管制度,确保了北京市马属动物无疫安全。     

Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes and Lipid Metabolism Signaling Pathways between Muscle and Fat Tissues in Broiler Chickens

In this study, signaling pathways and key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in lipid metabolism in muscle and fat tissues were investigated. Muscle and abdominal fat tissues were obtained from 35-day-old female broilers for RNA sequencing. DEGs between muscle and fat tissues were identified. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs were performed. A total of 6130 DEGs were identified to be significantly enriched in 365 GO terms, most of which were involved in biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions in muscle and fat tissues. Three important lipid signaling pathways (pyruvate metabolism, the insulin signaling pathway, and the adipocytokine signaling pathway) were identified among the fat and muscle tissues of broilers. The key common DEGs in these pathways included phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 2 (PCK2), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 alpha and beta (ACACA and ACACB), and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (AMPK) gene family. Hence, our findings revealed the pathways and key genes and gene families involved in the regulation of fat deposition in the muscle and fat tissues of broilers.     

工业氟污染对小尾寒羊牙齿和骨骼中氟含量的影响

于工业氟污染区选取4只雌性氟斑牙小尾寒羊作为试验组,于氟安全区另选4只健康小尾寒羊作为对照组;分别采集其肋骨及牙齿,利用氟离子选择电极法测定了其骨氟及牙氟含量。结果表明,氟污染区小尾寒羊的骨骼和牙齿中氟含量均明显高于氟安全区,差异极显著（P＜0.01）;氟污染区骨氟含量较对照组相对增长了73.5%;试验组牙氟含量较对照组相对增长了161.6%;表明氟在牙齿中的蓄积程度高于骨骼。本试验为进一步研究氟中毒对牙齿和骨骼的损伤机理奠定基础。     

Estimating the spatial scales of landscape effects on abundance

Context

Spatial variation in abundance is influenced by local- and landscape-level environmental variables, but modeling landscape effects is challenging because the spatial scales of the relationships are unknown. Current approaches involve buffering survey locations with polygons of various sizes and using model selection to identify the best scale. The buffering approach does not acknowledge that the influence of surrounding landscape features should diminish with distance, and it does not yield an estimate of the unknown scale parameters.

Objectives

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach that allows for statistical inference about the scales at which landscape variables affect abundance.

Methods

Our method uses smoothing kernels to average landscape variables around focal sites and uses maximum likelihood to estimate the scale parameters of the kernels and the effects of the smoothed variables on abundance. We assessed model performance using a simulation study and an avian point count dataset.

Results

The simulation study demonstrated that estimators are unbiased and produce correct confidence interval coverage except in the rare case in which there is little spatial autocorrelation in the landscape variable. Canada warbler abundance was more highly correlated with site-level measures of NDVI than landscape-level NDVI, but the reverse was true for elevation. Canada warbler abundance was highest when elevation in the surrounding landscape, defined by an estimated Gaussian kernel, was between 1300 and 1400 m.

Conclusions

Our method provides a rigorous way of formally estimating the scales at which landscape variables affect abundance, and it can be embedded within most classes of statistical models.

     

Relating tradable credits for biodiversity to sustainability criteria in a dynamic landscape

Tradable biodiversity credit systems provide flexible means to resolve conflicts between development and conservation land-use options for habitats occupied by threatened or endangered species. We describe an approach to incorporate the influence of habitat fragmentation into the conservation value of tradable credits. Habitat fragmentation decreases gene flow, increases rates of genetic drift and inbreeding, and increases probabilities of patch extinction. Importantly, tradable credit systems will change the level of fragmentation over time for small and/or declining populations. We apply landscape equivalency analysis (LEA), a generalizable, landscape-scale accounting system that assigns conservation value to habitat patches based on patch contributions to abundance and genetic variance at landscape scales. By evaluating habitat trades using two models that vary the relationship between dispersal behaviors and landscape patterns, we show that LEA provides a novel method for limiting access to habitat at the landscape-scale, recognizing that the appropriate amount of migration needed to supplement patch recruitment and to offset drift and inbreeding will vary as landscape pattern changes over time. We also found that decisions based on probabilities of persistence alone would ignore changes in migration, genetic drift, and patch extinction that result from habitat trades. The general principle of LEA is that habitat patches traded should make at least equivalent contributions to rates of recruitment and migration estimated at a landscape scale. Traditional approaches for assessing the “take” and “jeopardy” standards under the Endangered Species Act based on changes in abundance and probability of persistence may be inadequate to prevent trades that increase fragmentation.