Evaluating Domestic Sheep Survival with Different Breeds of Livestock Guardian Dogs

Livestock guard dogs (LGDs; Canis familiaris) have been widely adopted by domestic sheep (Ovis aries) producers because they reduce predation by wild carnivores. LGDs were originally used in the United States to reduce coyote (Canis latrans) depredations, but their efficacy against a suite of large carnivores, including wolves (Canis lupus), brown bears (Ursus arctos), black bears (Ursus americanus), and cougars (Puma concolor), and whether specific breeds perform better than others remains unclear. To assess breed-specific effectiveness at reducing depredations from a suite of livestock predators, we compared survival rates of sheep protected by different breeds of LGDs, including three breeds from Europe (Turkish kangal, Bulgarian karakachan, and Portuguese cão de gado transmontano) and mixed-breed LGDs, “whitedog,” common in the United States. With the help of participating sheep producers, we collected cause-specific mortality data from domestic sheep in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming between 2013 and 2016. All three of the novel breeds of LGD tested were associated with overall reductions in sheep depredation relative to whitedogs, ranging from 61% to 95% (P < 0.05). In terms of predator-specific effectiveness, the Turkish kangal was associated with decreases in depredation from cougars (e^β = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.10–0.94, P = 0.04), black bears (e^β = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.28–0.37, P < 0.01), and coyotes (e^β = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35–0.90, P = 0.02). The Bulgarian karakachan was associated with a decrease in coyote depredations (e^β = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.01–0.49, P < 0.01). The Portuguese transmontano was not associated with significant reductions in depredation hazard for any specific predator. Although variations in breed-specific effectiveness were subtle and nuanced, these findings will help livestock producers and wildlife managers make tailored decisions about how best to incorporate different breeds of LGD into sheep grazing regimes.     

东方钝绥螨生物学及食量研究

东方钝绥螨在昌黎地区每年大约发生23代左右。平均卵期1.8天,幼虫期0.7天、第一若虫期1.0天、第二若虫期1.5天、产卵前期4.6天、产卵期15.2天、雌成螨期20.5天、雄成螨期15.6天、生命周期为25.5天。平均日产卵量1.5粒,总卵量16粒。雌成螨日捕食山楂叶螨卵3粒及若螨0.46头,总捕食量为卵91粒,若螨43头及成山楂叶螨14头,对苹果全爪螨捕食量3.4头(雌成螨)。     

Effects of conditioning time and sodium bentonite on pellet quality,growth performance,intestinal morphology and nutrient retention in finisher broilers

1. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of steam-conditioning time and different levels of processed sodium bentonite (PSB) on pellet quality, growth performance, intestinal development and morphology, and nutrient digestibilities in broilers during finisher period (d 24–45).

2. A total of 810 male chicks were reared in commercial conditions on floor pens till d 24. Then, birds were weighed and used in a completely randomised design experiment with a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, including three levels of conditioning times (0, 2 and 4 min) and three PSB levels (0, 7.5 and 15 g/kg diet). Each of the 9 diets fed to 6 replicates group of 15 birds each.

3. The results showed that 2-min steam conditioning and 15 g/kg PSB supplementation significantly increased pellet durability index (PDI) and hardness, and decreased electrical consumption of pelleting. Diets had no significant effects on body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Although dietary treatments did not influence relative weight and length of three segments of small intestine, 2-min steam conditioning significantly improved villus height (VH) and crypt depth. Steam conditioning of diet for 2 min significantly increased apparent metabolisable energy (AME), ether extract (EE), calcium (Ca) and dry matter (DM) retention in birds measured during 38–42 d of age.

4. It could be concluded that 2-min steam conditioning improved PDI and hardness, VH and nutrient retention (AME, EE, Ca and DM), but did not affect growth performance in broilers during finisher period.     

桑塔纳汽车空调系统故障的诊断与使用保养

夏天汽车空调的使用频率较高的,空调虽然给人们带来舒适,但出现故障也让人头疼,文章以桑塔纳汽车空调系统为例,对出现的常见故障及正确使用与保养知识进行了分析和介绍,希望能够为大家解决空调系统故障带来方便。     

Impaired littoral energy pathways cause a shift to pelagic resources by fish in recovering lake food webs

Fish communities may increase in biomass and productivity due to energy subsidies from the littoral invertebrate community. In lakes recovering from acidification and metal contamination, such as those in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, impaired benthic invertebrate communities (i.e., low diversity with higher abundance of small‐bodied taxa) allowed a critical test of the role of these littoral pathways on fish diet. We compared fish abundance, diversity, diet and biomass in eight recovering and eight reference lakes and related availability of the main littoral and pelagic invertebrate groups to fish diet regime using stable isotope analysis. A Bayesian mixing model (MixSIR) was used to estimate diet likelihood, and convex hull analysis was used to estimate trophic niche space of fish communities. Fish biomass did not differ between impaired and reference lakes despite substantial differences in potential diet. Fish depended strongly on littoral benthos in the reference lakes but consumed more pelagic food in the impaired lakes. The trophic niche of the focal, most common fish species (i.e., yellow perch, smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed and brown bullhead) was larger in the impaired lakes. We attributed these differences to low diversity at the highest trophic levels of fish communities in the impaired lakes as well as to depauperate benthic invertebrate communities. In contrast to the food webs of most temperate lakes, fish in impaired lakes preyed less on littoral invertebrates yet still managed to maintain a reference lake level of biomass standing crop by relying more on pelagic resources – macro zooplankton such as Chaoborus.     

Non‐native rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) occupy a different trophic niche to native Breede River redfin (Pseudobarbus burchelli) which they replace in South African headwater streams

Recent research has revealed that non‐native rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss have largely replaced a native cyprinid, the Breede River redfin Pseudobarbus burchelli, as the dominant species of fish in many headwater streams in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Moreover, differences in the composition of benthic communities in CFR headwater streams with and without trout suggest that trout do not functionally compensate for the native redfin which they have replaced in these food webs. In this study, we used gut content and stable isotope analyses to characterise and compare the trophic niches and diet compositions of allopatric populations of trout and redfin in six CFR headwater streams (three containing trout, three containing redfin). Results indicate that native redfin exploit a broader trophic niche, and a more omnivorous diet, than do trout. Gut content analyses showed terrestrial invertebrates to be an important prey source for trout, which could potentially offset predation pressure on aquatic invertebrates and explain why benthic invertebrate density in streams with trout is higher than that in streams with no trout. Contrastingly, redfin diet appeared to be dominated by aquatic invertebrates, with terrestrial prey a less important food item in the guts of redfin. That redfin and trout exploit nonequivalent trophic niches may have consequences for benthic community composition in CFR headwater streams, and this study highlights the importance of quantifying how the functional role of predators changes following a predator replacement for understanding and managing the consequences of non‐native predator invasions.     

PLC控制中央空调水泵变频调速系统的设计

阐述PLC控制中央空调水泵变频调速系统的运行原理及构成要素，介绍具体电路、硬件电路和软件设计的步骤和方法。采用模块化设计结构，在可靠性和精度方面能达到使用要求。逻辑功能通过软件实现，系统运行可靠性得到提高。该系统具有开放性好、可扩充能力强、可靠性高、安装调试方便等优点，具有良好的发展前景。     

Spatial and temporal patterns of vertical distribution for three planktivorous fishes in Lake Washington

Abstract – We sampled three limnetic fish species: juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), three‐spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) in Lake Washington to quantify species‐specific patterns of diel vertical migration (DVM). Catch‐per‐unit‐effort data analysed from 15 years of midwater trawling documented seasonal and diel differences in vertical distributions for each species. These results were consistent with the hypothesis that the patterns of DVM in Lake Washington were affected by life history, size and morphology. Sockeye salmon showed clear DVM in spring but essentially no DVM in fall, remaining in deep water, whereas three‐spine sticklebacks were prevalent at the surface at night in both seasons. In fall, distribution patterns may be explained by differences in thermal performance (e.g., sticklebacks favouring warm water), but the patterns were also consistent with inter‐specific differences in predation risk. Younger sockeye salmon and longfin smelt were present in greater proportions higher in the water column during dusk and night periods than older conspecifics. Compared with sockeye salmon, the greater use by three‐spine sticklebacks of surface waters throughout the diel cycle during weak thermal stratification in spring was consistent with the hypothesis that sticklebacks’ armour reduces predation risk, but use of this warmer, metabolically beneficial stratum may also have promoted growth. This study illustrates variation in the vertical distribution of three sympatric planktivores and offers broader implications for the DVM phenomenon and applied lake ecology.     

Effects of wheat tempering and stone rotational speed on particle size,dough rheology and bread characteristics for a stone-milled weak flour

The poor technological performance of weak wheat flours means that they are usually considered difficult to be transformed into satisfactory bread. During milling, there are several settings that can affect flour characteristics. In this study, we tested two operative parameters that have the potential to affect flour quality – stone rotational speed and wheat tempering. Tempering moistures were set at 11%, 13%, 15%, and 17%, while stone rotational speeds were set at 173, 260, and 346 rpm. Both factors were found to affect operative milling parameters, notably flour yield, process productivity and specific energy consumption. Grain moisture had a significant effect on both dough rheology and bread characteristics (dough stability, tenacity, and extensibility). Dough stability was maximum at 13% moisture. Dough tenacity decreased as moisture increased, while extensibility increased as moisture increased. Bread specific volume and crumb specific volume were improved at 13% and 15% moisture. In conclusion, wheat tempering can be used to improve the potential of a weak flour and bread characteristics, while stone rotational speed affects operative parameters and white flour yield.