Effects of amperozide on biting behavior and performance in restricted-fed pigs following regrouping

Eight experiments were conducted to determine the effect of a single administration of amperozide on agonistic behavior and growth performance in newly mixed, restricted-fed pigs. Two hundred 12-wk-old pigs were used in a 4-wk trial (Exp. 1) to investigate the effect of amperozide on agonistic behavior and performance. The pigs were assigned to each pen on the basis of body weight and sex, ensuring that pigs in each pen were unacquainted. Each pig was weighed individually on d 3, 7 and 28. Agonistic behavior was quantified by counting bite and slash marks on each pig at 8, 26 and 48 h after penning. An i.m. injection of amperozide immediately before mixing the pigs reduced the physical damage (P less than .001) at each time point. There was no evidence of amperozide causing either sedation or motor disturbances. On the average, amperozide treatment improved (P less than .001) daily gain in the 4-wk study period by 70 g (17%). In Exp. 2 to 8, 1,648 pigs growing from approximately 20 to 100 kg body weight were used to determine the effect of amperozide on weight gain. Pigs were penned in groups of 9 to 11, randomly assigned to each pen on the basis of sex. Each pig was weighed individually after penning, on d 35 and at slaughter. Untreated control pigs had a poorer growth performance than did amperozide-treated pigs. During the first 5 wk postpenning average daily gain was improved (P less than .001) by 90 g (26%) in pigs receiving a single oral administration of amperozide at penning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mechano-sorptive creep in pulp fibres and paper

The factors affecting mechano-sorptive creep of wood and paper have been investigated for a long time. It has also been argued that single wood fibres do not exhibit mechano-sorptive creep and that the reasons for the accelerated creep under moisture cycling conditions instead are related to the bonds between the fibres. In order to examine the relevance of this argument, measurements on single pulp fibres of different composition were performed in tension, and the mechano-sorptive creep was compared to that of papers made from the same source of pulp fibres. All fibres tested were found to exhibit an increased creep rate during moisture cycling as compared to constant humidity conditions. Thus, pulp fibres show mechano-sorptive creep and in this sense behave similar to solid wood or paper products made thereof. A linear relation between the creep strain rate during cyclic humidity and the creep strain rate at a constant humidity was also noted for both fibres and paper. This relation was not affected by changes in hemicelluloses content or composition, neither for fibres nor for papers made of these fibres. However, in all cases, papers showed a much higher mechano-sorptive creep than the corresponding fibres they were made of.     

Red-listed wood-inhabiting fungi in natural and managed forest landscapes adjacent to the timberline in central Sweden

Many wood-inhabiting fungi are today threatened as modern forestry practices drastically reduce the amount of dead wood available in various forest ecosystems. We investigated whether the occurrence of red-listed wood-inhabiting fungi differed between natural and managed forest landscapes adjacent to the timberline in the middle part of Sweden. We assessed whether environmental variables such as the degree of human impact, length of forest roads, dead wood volume and quality affected species richness and abundance. The effects of forestry on wood-inhabiting fungi have been assessed in several studies in lowland Swedish forests. Few studies have, however, been conducted in forest landscapes adjacent to the timberline in Sweden. This is potentially important since forests close to the Swedish mountains have been pointed out as one of few intact forest landscapes in Fennoscandia and they are subjected to increasing logging pressure. Similar to other studies, species numbers and abundances were positively correlated with larger volumes of logs in various decay stages. However, never shown previously, the length of forest roads was negatively correlated with species abundance and occurrence of red-listed species. We suggest that a low amount of forest roads can be used as a conservation indicator to localize still-intact forest landscapes.     

The role of social groups in the persistence of learned fear

Classical fear conditioning investigates how animals learn to associate environmental stimuli with an aversive event. We examined how the mechanisms of fear conditioning apply when humans learn to associate social ingroup and outgroup members with a fearful event, with the goal of advancing our understanding of basic learning theory and social group interaction. Primates more readily associate stimuli from certain fear-relevant natural categories, such as snakes, with a negative outcome relative to stimuli from fear-irrelevant categories, such as birds. We assessed whether this bias in fear conditioning extends to social groups defined by race. Our results indicate that individuals from a racial group other than one's own are more readily associated with an aversive stimulus than individuals of one's own race, among both white and black Americans. This prepared fear response might be reduced by close, positive interracial contact.     

Organically fertilized onions (Allium cepa L.): effects of the fertilizer placement method on quercetin content and soil nitrogen dynamics

Field-cured onions cv. Hyskin ( Allium cepa L.) supplied with organic nitrogen fertilizer were studied. The fertilizer was applied by broadcasting and harrowing, broadcasting and rotary cultivation, or placement between rows. Nitrogen dynamics were monitored throughout the growing season by soil sampling. Variation in quercetin content in the onion scales was analyzed by HPLC. The organically fertilized onions were compared with inorganically fertilized onions grown in the same field. Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the row at sowing or during commercial transplant production was tested but did not significantly affect mycorrhizal root colonization levels in the field. Onions that received no fertilizer at all or that had fertilizer placed between rows had better establishment, probably due to more favorable soil nitrogen concentrations for seedling emergence. Broadcast application led to higher nitrogen concentration in the root zone, resulting in fewer but larger individual onions. Quercetin levels were not significantly altered as a result of nitrogen fertilizer source (inorganic or organic), application method, or mycorrhizal inoculation. However, variation between years was significant, with quercetin levels in 2004 almost twice as high as those in 2005.     

Colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal and fine endophytic fungi in four woodland grasses – variation in relation to pH and aluminium

Acidic soils are harsh environments for plants. One of the major problems is the potential toxicity of aluminium (Al) and hydrogen ions at a pH below 5; another is the shortage of nutrients usually accompanying soil acidity. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonisation and soil acidity (measured by pH and Al concentration) in order to evaluate the possibility that AM fungi facilitate the existence of plants on acidic soils. We sampled tussocks of four grass species, Elymus caninus, Poa nemoralis, Deschampsia cespitosa and Deschampsia flexuosa, together with samples of the surrounding soil, in oak forests of varying soil pH in southern Sweden. We determined pH, easily reacting Al (Al_r), extractable Al (Al_BaCl2) and phosphate in the soil samples, analysed the shoots for Al and phosphorous and quantified the degree of AM and fine endophyte (FE) colonisation in the roots. E. caninus was found on the least acidic soils and had the highest AM colonisation of all the species studied, while D. flexuosa, which was found on the most acidic soils, had the lowest AM colonisation. P. nemoralis and D. cespitosa were intermediate with respect to pH and AM colonisation. The colonisation of AM fungi exceeded FE colonisation for E. caninus and P. nemoralis, while the opposite was true for the two Deschampsia species. Our results indicated a negative relationship between Al_r and the degree of AM colonisation at the within-species level. The low colonisation of AM fungi on acidic soils may to some extent be explained by a sensitivity of AM fungi to Al_r: this parameter showed a stronger negative association with AM colonisation than did pH and Al_BaCl2. We hypothesize that Al toxicity is a critical factor for plant nutrition in forest soils through the impact on symbiotic fungi.     

Linking forest history and conservation efforts: Long-term impact of low-intensity timber harvest on forest structure and wood-inhabiting fungi in northern Sweden

Throughout the northern hemisphere old forests with high abundance of dead wood are rare features in most landscapes today, and the loss of dead wood constitutes a serious threat to the existence of many species. This study, using field surveys and dendrochronology, examines the relationship between wood-inhabiting fungi and past forest utilisation along a gradient of early logging activity. Data were collected in three late-successional Scots pine forests in northern Sweden. Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) was then used to assess differences in species composition among the forests. Our results show that minor forest logging (22-26 cut stumps ha⁻¹) carried out a century ago may have continuing effects on forest characteristics, including dead wood dynamics and the wood-inhabiting fungal community - especially the abundance of red-listed species. The most important effects are lower numbers of logs in early and intermediate stages of decomposition. Additionally, numbers of species (including red-listed species) can be high in forests that have been subject to low levels of logging. Overall, the high species numbers recorded in this study (n = 60-87) show that old, low-productivity pine forests harbour a considerable fraction of the total diversity of Basidiomycetes in northern Fennoscandian boreal forests. We conclude that the formation of a framework linking forest history and environmental data is vital for understanding the ecology and formulating goals for future management of these forests.     

Antioxidant levels and inhibition of cancer cell proliferation in vitro by extracts from organically and conventionally cultivated strawberries

The effects of extracts from five cultivars of strawberries on the proliferation of colon cancer cells HT29 and breast cancer cells MCF-7 were investigated, and possible correlations with the levels of several antioxidants were analyzed. In addition, the effects of organic cultivation compared to conventional cultivation on the content of antioxidants in the strawberries and strawberry extracts on the cancer cell proliferation were investigated. The ratio of ascorbate to dehydroascorbate was significantly higher in the organically cultivated strawberries. The strawberry extracts decreased the proliferation of both HT29 cells and MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent way. The inhibitory effect for the highest concentration of the extracts was in the range of 41-63% (average 53%) inhibition compared to controls for the HT29 cells and 26-56% (average 43%) for MCF-7 cells. The extracts from organically grown strawberries had a higher antiproliferative activity for both cell types at the highest concentration than the conventionally grown, and this might indicate a higher content of secondary metabolites with anticarcinogenic properties in the organically grown strawberries. For HT29 cells, there was a negative correlation at the highest extract concentration between the content of ascorbate or vitamin C and cancer cell proliferation, whereas for MCF-7 cells, a high ratio of ascorbate to dehydroascorbate correlated with a higher inhibition of cell proliferation at the second highest concentration. The significance of the effect of ascorbate on cancer cell proliferation might lie in a synergistic action with other compounds.     

Quercetin content in field-cured onions (Allium cepa L.): effects of cultivar, lifting time, and nitrogen fertilizer level

Variation in quercetin content was investigated in field-cured onions (Allium cepa L.) that had been supplied with different nitrogen fertilizer levels and lifted at different developmental stages. Quercetin content varied significantly between years and was well correlated to global radiation in August. Field curing generally resulted in significant increases in quercetin content compared to levels at lifting. Nitrogen fertilizer level did not affect quercetin content, suggesting that nitrogen leakage from soil may be minimized without effects on flavonol content. Lifting time had minor effects on quercetin content in field-cured onions. Cultivar differences in quercetin content were significant but not consistent in all years. Quercetin content increased significantly less in dark environments compared to field curing, but some quercetin synthesis occurred regardless of light. Field curing with or without foliage still attached did not affect quercetin content, suggesting that no transportation from the foliage to the scales occurred.     

西藏绒山羊羊绒细度候选基因筛选及其chi-miR-105a靶基因的验证

为研究西藏绒山羊羊绒细度，以及了解相关候选基因对绒山羊产绒性能的影响，本研究对筛选chi-miR-105a靶基因进行验证，以西藏绒山羊为研究对象，联合RNA测序数据和蛋白质组学数据，筛选与羊绒细度相关的关键候选基因，并通过实时荧光定量和双荧光素酶报告基因试验对候选基因进行调控作用验证。结果表明:1)通过转录组和蛋白组数据整理得到384个DE mRNAs，12个DE miRNAs和29个DEPs。通过多组学联合分析发现CXCL10、SRC、CXCL9、FOS、ETV6、GMPS和PIP5K1B基因与羊毛细度相关。2)通过DEG-DE miRNA互作网络图发现chi-miR-105a与靶基因ETV6和PIP5K1B均在网络当中出现。因此对该调控因子进行验证和分析，根据靶基因表达水平试验发现转染chi-miR-105a mimics后引起毛乳头细胞中ETV6基因的mRNA表达显著降低(P<0.001)，而PIP5K1B基因的表达量均无显著变化。3)通过双荧光素酶报告基因试验表明，过表达chi-miR-105a后，ETV6酶活性显著降低，即chi-miR-105a可与ETV6的3′UTR区结合。综上，通过多组学联合分析筛选出与羊毛细度相关基因CXCL10、SRC、CXCL9、FOS、ETV6、GMPS和PIP5K1B。通过双荧光素酶报告基因进行chi-miR-105a与其预测靶基因ETV6和PIP5K1B的靶标验证，确定chi-miR-105a是ETV6潜在的调控因子，本研究为加快优质绒山羊新品种(系)的培养提供理论依据。