Effects of music stimulus on behavior response,cortisol level,and horizontal immunity of growing pigs

An enriched environment is widely used to improve domestic animals’ welfare and promote their natural behaviors. Music can reduce abnormal behavior in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents. However, little is known about the effects of music on pigs. This study aims to explore the effects of repeated music stimulation on the behavior, physiology, and immunity of growing pigs. A total of 72 hybrid piglets (Large White × Duroc × Minpig) were randomly divided into three groups, including music (Mozart K.448, 60 to 70 dB), noise (recorded mechanical noise, 80 to 85 dB), and control (natural background sound, <40 dB), and 6 h sound stimulation was given per day (1000 to 1600 hours) from 40 to 100 d of age. The behavioral activities of the pigs were observed during the music stimulation, and their serum cortisol, salivary cortisol, and serum immune indices were also measured. Compared with the control group, the music group and noise group increased activity but decreased lying of pigs (P < 0.05). A significant increase in tail-wagging, playing, and exploring behaviors of pigs was found in the music group (P < 0.05), and the noise significantly increased the aggressive behavior of the pigs (P < 0.05). Tail-wagging, playing, exploring, manipulating, and aggressive behaviors decreased over time. Short-term (8 d) music stimulus had a lower cortisol level than that of the noise and control groups (P < 0.05), whereas long-term (60 d) music stimulus increased immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels (P < 0.05) and decreased interleukin-4 (IL-4) level (P < 0.05). Long-term noise stimulus significantly reduced the level of IgG (P < 0.05) but did not affect the level of IL-2, IL-4, and IFN-γ levels (P > 0.05). In conclusion, short-term music stimulus (8 d) reduced the stress response, whereas long-term music stimulus (60 d) enhanced the immune responses. In addition, the noise increased the aggressive behavior, and long-term noise reduced the immunity of the growing pigs.     

Three SNPs within exons of INHA and ACVR2B genes are significantly associated with litter size in Dazu black goats

The aim of this study was to analyse the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms within INHA and ACVR2B and litter size in Dazu black goats. In total, twenty-two SNPs were genotyped in 190 individuals by SNaPshot and resequencing. The results showed that three SNPs (SNP_1, SNP_12 and SNP_13 in this study) were detected to have significant additive genetic effect on the recorded goat litter size (p < .05). The SNP_1 (NC_030809.1), a non-synonymous substitution of G for T at chr2-g. 28314990 in the exon 2 of INHA gene (NM_001285606.1), resulted in homozygote 2 (HOM2) contributed 0.25 and heterozygote (HET) contributed 0.12 larger litter than homozygote 1 (HOM1). Meanwhile, SNP_12 (Chr22-g. 11721225 A > T) and SNP_13 (Chr22-g. 11721227 A > C) (NC_030829.1) simultaneously mutated at the first and third position of a triplet AAA (lysine, K) in the exon 4 of ACVR2B gene (XM_018066623.1) had estimated genetic effects of HOM1 (0.00) and HOM2 (0.03) larger than HET (−0.12). In conclusion, one SNPs (chr2-g. 28314990 T > G) within the exon 2 of INHA and two SNPs (Chr22-g. 11721225 A > T and Chr22-g. 11721227 A > C) i n the exon 4 of ACVR2B gene were highly recommended as candidate markers of litter size in Dazu black goats. A large-scale association study to assess the impact of these variants on litter size is still necessary.     

柠檬酸废液深层培养双孢蘑菇菌丝蛋白的研究

柠檬酸工业废液中含有一定有效物质,如糖类、蛋白质、矿物质等,可供微生物利用。本文介绍了利用废液深层培养双孢蘑菇菌丝蛋白的可能性及条件。并用1吨发酵堆进行生产试验,探讨了生产工艺条件,分析了发酵液中底物、产物的动态变化。双孢蘑菇菌丝蛋白培养温度25℃,底物 pH6,发酵周期6天,菌球直径1～3mm,菌球数量4.8×10~3个/ml,菌丝温重达底物量的29.3%。在上述条件下,发酵液中菌球直经、菌丝数量、发酵液粘度受生物剪切作用的影响,粘度大,剪切作用大,菌球直径小,菌球数量则多。本文为新型单细胞蛋白的开发,促进物质的多层次利用,消除环境污染,提供了一个新途径。     

马尾松截根苗造林林分生长状况分析

由于马尾松常规苗主根发达，侧根较少，造林成活率较低。1990年起选用了马尾松截根苗造林，以期提高其造林成活率，取得了较好的效果。^[1-2]通过对马尾松截根苗造林13年生林分生长现状调查分析，试图进一步揭示截根对林木生长的影响，为大力推广应用截根苗造林提供了科学的理论依据。     

植物活体水分探测仪的研制及测试初报

利用NIM插件探测器及金硅面垒探头组装了植物活体水分探测仪;筛选并分析了仪器的最佳工作条件;检测了春小麦、玉米、苜蓿、豌豆、红豆草叶片鲜重的变化。结果表明;叶片水分随时间损失大的,其抗旱性差。叶片保水的秩序为:红豆草、豌豆>苜蓿>春小麦>玉米。     

云南省世界银行贷款“国家造林项目（NAP）”科技推广

本文报告了云南世行贷款“国家造林项目（ＮＡＰ）”的科技推广后所取得的成效。为了增加项目造林的科技含量，项目一启动就重视科技成果的推广，前后推广了省内外重要科技成果６项，对主要造林树种建立了试验林、示范林、环境保护监测样地，以及配套的科学管理等措施。通过这些举措，使项目造林取得显著成效，完成造林任务６４２７５．８１ｈｍ２（９６．４万亩），为协议任务面积的１４６．１％，造林成活率达９５％以上，保存率达９０％以上。由于生产与科技紧密结合，从而大大提高了科学造林水平，使“ＮＡＰ”项目在省内工程造林中起到了示范作用。     

甜橙新品种‘兴国甜橙3-5’

 ‘兴国甜橙3-5 ’是从实生‘兴国甜橙’后代中选出的新品种。果皮橙黄至橙红色。果实近圆球形, 平均单果质量167. 7 g , 可溶性固形物含量13. 6% ~ 15. 1%, 总糖含量10. 3% ~ 11. 5%, 总酸含量0. 47%~ 0. 93%, 可食率79. 27%~ 80. 75%, 果汁率65. 18%~ 65. 96%, 11 月上旬成熟。