Application of acoustic Doppler current profiler combined with a scientific echo sounder for krill Euphausia pacifica density estimation

ABSTRACT:   An application of the acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP, 153.6 kHz) in combination with a scientific echo sounder (EK60, 38 and 200 kHz) was investigated to estimate the density of krill Euphausia pacifica . The acoustic backscattering strength from sound scattering layers was compared with biomass estimates from midwater trawls. Euphausia pacifica was targeted among mixed species populations in the sound scattering layer in the offshore Funka Bay area of Hokkaido, Japan. The frequency characteristics of acoustic backscattering by krill were calculated using a distorted wave Born approximation scattering model at three frequencies. Krill aggregations identified from the EK60 data were extracted as the mean volume backscattering strength difference between two frequencies. They were then used to identify similar aggregations in the ADCP data by matching observation times and depths for the two methods, which were applied simultaneously. Results from the comparison of the mean volume backscattering strength and the density calculated from the ADCP and EK60 showed that ADCP can be used to measure density and spatial–temporal distribution of krill aggregations. Current speed and direction at the study site were found to be 16.1 cm/s and 187.0°, respectively, and krill speed and direction (including the current component) were found to be 19.8 cm/s and 172.2°, respectively. Based on the ADCP data, the net speed and direction of the krill aggregations were found to be 5.9 cm/s and 128.0°, respectively.     

Evaluation of Five Most Commonly Grown Cotton Cultivars (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Under Mediterranean Conditions: Productivity and Fibre Quality

Studies were conducted in four regions of central Greece (Larisa, Karditsa, Livadia, Thiva), to evaluate the productivity and fibre properties (fibre strength and fibre length) of the five most commonly grown cotton cultivars in these regions. The experiments lasted for 6 years (1995–2000). All the characteristics tested were strongly influenced by the factors ‘year’, ‘cultivar’ and ‘region’. Significant cultivar × region, year × cultivar, region × year and cultivar × region × year interactions occurred for all the characteristics studied. The cultivar Alegria had the highest seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Aria had the lowest ones. Both cultivars gave the highest mean lint percentage but the lowest mean boll weight (MBW). Alegria had the lowest fibre strength, while Aria had the highest. The Acala‐type cultivars, Acala SJ2 and Zeta 2, had intermediate seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Vered 171 had high seed‐cotton and satisfactory lint yield. The three cultivars mentioned above had the highest MBW and very good fibre strength. Positive correlation was observed between fibre strength and length. In spite of the fact that mean fibre length was statistically the same in all cultivars, it was influenced by the factor ‘year’, as a result of different weather conditions. The year 1996 was the most unfavourable one for seed‐cotton yield and MBW, because it was characterized by lower than average air temperatures and rather dry conditions for all study sites. The factor ‘region’, a combination of different climatic conditions and cultural practices, influenced significantly all the parameters studied.     

Analysis of regional variation of height growth and slenderness in populations of six urban tree species using a quantile regression approach

Inventory data of six urban tree species from seven cities across Germany were used to model regional variation of height growth, allometric scaling, and slenderness over a wide range of size and age using a quantile regression approach. Variation within and between species and cities was large. Height did not reach an asymptote but declined at higher ages, presumably because of reduction cuts. Allometric scaling and slenderness varied with wind climate, modulus of elasticity, and coefficient of drag. Our data do not support the use of a threshold value of slenderness in tree risk assessment.     

End-of-Season Carcass and Reproductive Traits in Original and Replacement Male Broiler Breeders

Reproductive efficiency of male broiler breeders declines toward the end of a production cycle. It is common to add young, replacement males (spiking) to a breeder flock to maintain or increase fertility. To date, no study has reported if there are differences in the carcass and reproductive morphology between original and spiked males at the end of the breeding period. In this study, the weight, fleshing traits, footpad condition, and testes size of 327 Hubbard males (237 original and 90 replacement) from a commercial operation were examined. The original birds (63 wk of age) had significantly higher BW, breast weight, girth measurement, keel length, and spur length than the spiked males (48 wk of age). While external indicators of size and fleshing differed betweenreplacement and original roosters, testis weight was not affected by the age of the bird. It was found that average testis weight correlated well with BW in birds in which testicular regression had not taken place but only weakly with spur length. Because original males had a higher BW and were more heavily fleshed than replacement males, their ability to successfully complete matings may have been impeded. Further research is needed to link growth profiles with semen quality, sexual behavioral, and longevity of a male breeder in a commercial flock.     

Feeding Acacia etbaica and Dichrostachys cinerea fruits to smallholder goats in northern Ethiopia improves their performance during the dry season

Acacia etbaica Schweinf. and Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight et Arn. are among the common woody browse plants that naturally grow in many arid and semi-arid rangelands in sub Saharan Africa. An experiment was conducted to compare the voluntary dry matter intake, body weight gain, nitrogen balance, carcass composition and sensory attributes of goats supplemented with different levels of A. etbaica and D. cinerea fruits. Average initial body weight of the goats was 20.4 kg (± 0.8SE) and received one of the following fruit supplementation regimes for 120 days (on body weight basis, n = 4 goats per group): (1) Control, no supplement; (2) 0.5% of A. etbaica; (3) 0.5% of D. cinerea; (4) 1.0% of A. etbaica; (5) 1.0% of D. cinerea; (6) 1.5% of A. etbaica; (7) 1.5% of D. cinerea. All groups were allowed to graze/browse during the day. Compared to A. etbaica, D. cinerea fruits contained higher amounts of crude protein (182 vs 135 g/kg DM), metabolizable energy (11 vs 8.4 MJ/kg DM), and in vitro dry matter digestibility coefficient (0.7 vs 0.6). The concentrations of acid detergent fiber (ADF), sulphuric acid solubulized lignin, and tannin (soluble and condensed) were lower (P < 0.05) in D. cinerea than in A. etbaica fruits. A. etbaica fruits, however, contained higher amounts of Na, K, Fe, and Zn concentrations than D. cinerea fruits. Dry matter intake was markedly higher in supplemented groups than in the control group without supplement. Similarly, body weight gain in the control group was negative and lower (P < 0.05) than any of the supplemented groups. During the course of the experimental period (120 days) the group placed in the 1.5% D. cinerea fruit diet gained 2.6 kg whereas the control group lost 2.0 kg. Thus, the difference between these two groups was 4.6 kg, which suggests about 22.5% increment of the goats' initial body weight. N retention was negative for the control group and varied little among the remaining treatment groups. Dressing percent increased with increased level of either type of fruit supplement, the highest (51.8%) being achieved at the 1.5% D. cinerea level. There was no difference in bone tissue across treatment groups. D. cinerea fruit intake also resulted in juicy/watery flavor and tender carcass. D. cinerea fruits appeared to have no adverse effects when included at the highest level (1.5%) and could be collected and stored as dry season supplement to smallholder goats. This study shows that poor farmers can increase goat performance substantially through supplement feeding with wild fruits. Areas in Ethiopia originally set aside for provision of ecological services and biodiversity protection can also be used for wild fruit production and feeding of small stock. The effect of increasing D. cinerea fruits above the 1.5% body weight level should be a focus of future investigation. Further work on deactivation mechanism of tannins is required for A. etbaica fruits included at levels higher than 1.0%.     

氨基葡萄糖调控仔猪初生重和均匀度的应用及机理

养猪生产中产（活）仔数和胎儿初生重是影响母猪繁殖生产效率的主要因素,但产仔数和初生重呈负相关关系,近年来母猪繁殖生产的研究重点之一便是如何提高仔猪初生重并降低初生重变异。氨基葡萄糖是一种饲料原料,其制作原料广泛存在于自然界中,近期研究发现氨基葡萄糖应用于母猪妊娠后期可调控仔猪的胎盘发育和初生重。文章介绍了近年来有关氨基酸和蛋白质、能量、功能性添加剂在调控仔猪初生重和均匀度中的应用及其效果,简述了氨基葡萄糖的性质、来源及合成方法,重点阐述了母猪妊娠后期使用氨基葡萄糖在维持胎儿果糖浓度稳定、促进母猪胎盘发育和改善胎盘功能等方面的效果,分析了氨基葡萄糖通过促进胎盘基质和胎褶双分子层发育、刺激胎盘滋养层细胞增殖、增强胎盘功能等途径调控胎盘发育、仔猪初生重和均匀度可能的机理;提出了氨基葡萄糖在调控仔猪初生重和均匀度方面未来的研究方向,以期为在生产实践中调控仔猪初生重和均匀度提供理论参考和实践依据。     

基于AHP-CRITIC复合加权法评价不同发育期苦水玫瑰品质

运用AHP-CRITIC复合加权法评价不同发育期苦水玫瑰的品质。以不同发育期的苦水玫瑰为研究对象,测定总多糖、总黄酮、总多酚含量及抗氧化活性,采用AHP-CRITIC复合加权法综合评价不同发育期苦水玫瑰的品质。结果发现抗氧化IC50、总黄酮、总多酚、总多糖4个指标成分的复合权重分别为0.294 1、0.152 3、0.158 8、0.394 8;幼蕾期、花蕾期、盛开期苦水玫瑰质量综合评分分别为54.362 0、38.451 9、33.801 9,即幼蕾期苦水玫瑰的质量最好,花蕾期次之,盛开期较差。说明通过化学成分和生物活性作用综合评价不同发育期苦水玫瑰的品质,幼蕾期苦水玫瑰品质最好。     

牧区极端条件下绵羊饲喂秸秆应急料的研究

为研究小麦(Triticum aestivum)秸秆型及玉米(Zea mays)秸秆型全价颗粒饲料作为家畜草料空缺期的应急料,在高寒牧区特殊气候条件下对甘肃高山细毛羊育成羊生长发育的影响,本研究选择体况相近的6月龄甘肃高山细毛羊育成母羊48只,随机分为试验组Ⅰ(18只,每只仅饲喂小麦秸秆型全价颗粒饲料1.2 kg·d^–1)、试验组Ⅱ(17只,每只仅饲喂玉米秸秆型全价颗粒饲料1.2 kg·d^–1)、对照组[13只,每只饲喂玉米0.05 kg·d^–1+燕麦草(Avena sativa) 0.2 kg·d^–1],在舍饲条件下进行为期16 d的饲喂试验。结果表明:试验组Ⅱ羊只平均日增重显著高于对照组(P <0.05);试验组Ⅱ羊只血清中总蛋白、球蛋白的浓度显著高于对照组(P <0.05);试验组Ⅰ羊只血清中谷草转氨酶、乳酸脱氢酶的活性及白蛋白的浓度显著高于对照组(P <0.05),试验组Ⅱ与对照组无显著差异(P> 0.05)。由此可见,用玉米秸秆型全价颗粒饲料作为应急料优于传统的燕麦...     

杂交狼尾草打浆后饲喂早中期妊娠母猪效果研究

开展以沼液浇灌的“闽牧6号”杂交狼尾草（Pennisetum americarum×P．purpureum cv．Minmu 6）打浆不同比例饲喂怀孕早中期母猪(0～80 d)效果研究,试验设4个饲喂量处理,处理1（CK）~处理4,妊娠早中期分别饲喂打浆鲜草0、2、4、6 kg/(头·d),牧草以折合成干物质等量替代配合饲料。结果表明,4个处理的母猪窝产仔数分别为13.42、10.60、13.64和11.50头,窝活仔数分别为12.42、10.30、12.73和9.92头,饲喂2和4 kg/（头·d）打浆鲜草在活仔数方面与对照差异不显著,而饲喂6 kg/（头·d）打浆鲜草则显著低于不饲喂鲜(P<0.05)。饲喂牧草的处理仔猪初生体质量、健仔率都比对照得到不同程度的提高,试验结果还表明,怀孕早中期母猪通过饲喂2～4 kg/（头·d）狼尾草草浆来补充纤维来源,可提高母猪的生产性能和仔猪品质,尤其以饲喂4 kg/（头·d）打浆鲜草,饲粮粗纤维含量为8.24%～9.41%,效果最佳。     

Effect of supplementing urea-treated barley straw with lucerne or vetch hays on feed intake,digestibility and growth of Arsi Bale Sheep

The study was conducted at Sinana Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia to assess the supplementation of graded levels of vetch (Vicia dasycarpa `lana’) and lucerne (Medicago sativa,’ Hunter river’) hay on feed intake, digestibility and body weight (BW) change of Arsi-Bale sheep fed urea treated barley straw (UTBS). A 7 day- digestibility and a 90 day- feed intake trials were conducted using 28 and 35 sheep, respectively. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with seven dietary treatments that consisted of feeding UTBS (T1) as the control treatment, UTBS plus 150, 250 and 350 g dry matter (DM) per day of vetch for T2, T3, T4, respectively and UTBS plus 150, 250 and 350 g DM per day of lucerne for T5, T6 and T7, respectively. Intake of UTBS was not affected (P > 0.05) by inclusion of lucerne hay at 25–35% of daily DM intake. The supplements increased daily intake of total DM, organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and metabolizable energy (ME) (P < 0.001) as well as apparent digestibility of DM, OM (P < 0.001), NDF (P < 0.01), ADF, crude protein (CP) (P < 0.05) and daily BW gain (P < 0.001). Supplementation with lucerne than vetch hay promoted higher (P < 0.001) CP and ME intakes and daily BW gain. Feeding with the UTBS without supplementation was enough to meet the maintenance requirements of the sheep and allow small BW gain. The results of the study showed that urea treatment of barley straw in conjunction with supplementation of lucerne or vetch hay could serve as a useful strategy in improving smallholder sheep production in the tropics.