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.     

Poorly crystalline iron and aluminium oxides contribute to the carbon saturation and sorption of dissolved organic carbon in the soil

Soil carbon (C) saturation implies an upper limit to a soil's capacity to store C depending on the contents of silt + clay and poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides. We hypothesized that the poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides in silt + clay fraction increased the C saturation and thus reduced the capacity of the soil to sorb additional C input. To test the hypothesis, we studied the sorption of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on silt + clay fractions (<53 µm) of highly weathered oxic soils, collected from three different land uses (i.e., improved pasture, cropping and forest). Soils with high carbon saturation desorbed 38% more C than soils with low C saturation upon addition of DOC, whereas adsorption of DOC was only observed at higher concentration (>15 g kg^?1). While high Al oxide concentration significantly increased both the saturation and desorption of DOC, the high Fe oxide concentration significantly increased the desorption of DOC, supporting the proposition that both oxides have influence on the DOC sorption in soil. Our findings provide a new insight into the chemical control of stabilization and destabilization of DOC in soil.     

北方高寒地区“高效、节能、智能”新型猪场建设

文章所述猪场地处内蒙古自治区呼伦贝尔市，属我国高寒地区。该猪场运用“种养结合”模式，将低碳环保养殖和绿色有机农业进行有机结合，将猪场产生的猪粪尿全部发酵成为有机肥，为农田提供肥料；农田产出无公害有机饲料再喂养猪只，实现生态农牧业可持续健康发展。低碳环保则指猪舍冬天利用猪群自身余热取暖，替代锅炉，实现低能耗。与传统猪场相比，该猪场更加注重节约资源、节省人工。运用自动清粪模式代替水冲，避免大量污水产生；舍内废气经过净化处理排出舍外，避免氨氮废气等污染环境。     

Exogenous application of allelopathic water extracts helps improving tolerance against terminal heat and drought stresses in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Em. Thell.)

The allelopathic water extracts (AWEs) may help improve the tolerance of crop plants against abiotic stresses owing to the presence of the secondary metabolites (i.e., allelochemicals). We conducted four independent experiments to evaluate the influence of exogenous application of AWEs (applied through seed priming or foliage spray) in improving the terminal heat and drought tolerance in bread wheat. In all the experiments, two wheat cultivars, viz. Mairaj‐2008 (drought and heat tolerant) and Faisalabad‐2008 (drought and heat sensitive), were raised in pots. Both wheat cultivars were raised under ambient conditions in the wire house till leaf boot stage (booting) by maintaining the pots at 75% water‐holding capacity (WHC). Then, managed drought and heat stresses were imposed by maintaining the pots at 35% WHC, or shifting the pots inside the glass canopies (at 75% WHC), at booting, anthesis and the grain filling stages. Drought stress reduced the grain yield of wheat by 39%–49%. Foliar application of AWEs improved the grain yield of wheat by 26%–31%, while seed priming with AWEs improved the grain yield by 18%–26%, respectively, than drought stress. Terminal heat stress reduced the grain yield of wheat by 38%. Seed priming with AWEs improved the grain yield by 21%–27%; while foliar application of AWEs improved the grain yield by 25%–29% than the heat stress treatment. In conclusion, the exogenous application of AWEs improved the stay green, accumulation of proline, soluble phenolics and glycine betaine, which helped to stabilize the biological membranes and improved the tolerance against terminal drought and heat stresses.     

基于微信公众号构建“形势与政策”课高效互动平台

新媒体在挑战传统“形势与政策”课教学效果的同时，也为其教学改革提供了丰富的手段和机遇。微信公众号作为新媒体的强势代表，为改进“形势与政策”课教学互动，构建高效互动平台提供了可能性与优越性，能够有效改进“形势与政策”课形式大于内容的现状，其内生的互动活力、活泼多样的互动形式、符合学生话语特点的交流方式，在一定程度上可以破除学生参与课程互动的惰性和抵触心理，保护瞬间即逝的学习积极性，其三大功能还有助于实现课程教学中一对多、一对一和多对多的教育和引导。而优秀推送内容的编排和高效互动平台的构建，都应当以专业性更强的教研室为中心。     

我国社会救助管理服务体系建设研究

我国社会救助体系不断完善的过程中涉及主体更多元、方式更多样。当前社会救助面临相关部门和组织多、信息复杂、经办分散、分类精准施救难度大等问题。基于我国社会救助模式的合理价值选择，提出管理服务体系建设的重要意义。进而分析社会救助在管理服务上面临的挑战和难题，从组织协调管理、信息网络系统、基层经办机构、社会参与机制四个方面提出构建多层次管理服务体系的思路。力求提高管理服务的效率和效能，促进互助共济社会救助共同体的形成，提升公众满意度，夯实我国民生保障基础。     

Impact of grassland contract policy on soil organic carbon losses from alpine grassland on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Carbon storage in the soils on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau plays a very important role in the global carbon budget. In the 1990s, a policy of contracting collective grasslands to smaller units was implemented, resulting in a change from the traditional collective grassland management to two new management patterns: a multi‐household management pattern (MMP: grassland shared by several households without enclosures) and a single‐household management pattern (SMP: grassland enclosed and used by only one household). In 2016, 50 MMP and 54 SMP winter pastures on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau were sampled to assess the differences in soil organic carbon (SOC) between the two management patterns. Results showed that average SOC was significantly greater under MMP than under SMP, with an estimated 0.41 Mg C/ha/yr lost due to SMP following the new grassland contract. Based on the government's grassland policy, four grassland utilization scenarios were developed for both summer and winter pastures. We found that if the grassland were managed under SMP, likely C losses ranged between 0.31 × 10⁷ and 6.15 × 10⁷ Mg C/yr across the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau relative to MMP, which more closely resembles pre‐1990s grassland management. Previous estimates of C losses have only considered land use change (with cover change) and ignored the impacts driven by land management pattern changes (without cover change). The new data suggest that C losses from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau are greater than previously estimated, and therefore that the grassland contract policy should be reviewed and SMP households should be encouraged to reunite into the MMP. These findings have potential implications for land management strategies not only on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau but also other grazing regions globally where such practices may exist.     

菠萝蜜种子淀粉制备香草兰微胶囊的工艺研究

以菠萝蜜种子淀粉为壁材,采用饱和水溶液法制备香草兰精油微胶囊,以包埋产率为指标,采用响应面分析法对微胶囊的包埋条件进行优化探讨。结果表明:5个单因素中,影响最显著的因素为壁芯材比例、包埋温度和包埋时间。响应面优化得到香草兰精油微胶囊的最佳工艺条件为壁芯材比例为7.5∶1;包埋时间72 min;包埋温度54℃,此条件下的包埋产率为(95.46±0.2)%,包埋率为(76.35±0.6)%,载油量为(27.73±0.3)%。试验证明,此条件结果与模型预测值相吻合,此工艺条件可为菠萝蜜种子淀粉包埋香草兰精油微胶囊工艺提供理论依据。     

Replacing Soybean Meal with Alternative Protein Sources in Diets for Pond‐raised Hybrid Catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus

The present study investigated the replacement of soybean meal with combinations of two or three alternative protein sources in diets for pond‐raised hybrid catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus. Alternative protein sources evaluated included cottonseed meal, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), peanut meal, and porcine meat and bone meal (PMBM). Hybrid catfish fingerlings with a mean initial weight of 35 g/fish were stocked into 25 earthen ponds (0.04 ha) at a density of 14,826 fish/ha. Fish were fed once daily to apparent satiation for 166 d. No significant differences were observed for total diet fed, net yield, weight gain, survival, carcass yield, fillet yield, or fillet proximate composition among dietary treatments. Results show soybean meal may be completely replaced by combinations of cottonseed meal and one or two other alternative protein sources including DDGS, peanut meal, and PMBM in the diet without markedly affecting production and processing characteristics and fillet proximate composition of pond‐raised hybrid catfish. These alternative diets may be used during foodfish production when prices are favorable.     

Compatibility of root growth and tuber production of potato cultivars with dynamic and static water‐saving irrigation managements

The important root characteristics of root length density (RLD) and root mass density (RMD) generally differ among irrigation managements and potato cultivars. The objective of this study was to investigate the RLD and RMD variations and their functional relationships with gross potato tuber yield for two commercial potato cultivars, Agria and Sante, under different irrigation strategies. Full irrigation and water‐saving irrigation strategies, deficit and partial root drying irrigations, were applied statically (S) and dynamically (D) based on daily crop evapotranspiration. Results showed that SPRD had significantly greater RLD (3.64 cm/cm³) and RMD (132.7 μg/cm³) than other irrigation treatments. Between the potato cultivars, Agria had significantly larger values of RLD (3.50 cm/cm³) and RMD (138.7 μg/cm³) than Sante. The functional relationship between the root growth characteristics and tuber yield showed that under water‐saving irrigations, Agria increased root mass at the expense of gross tuber yield but Sante increased root mass to maintain larger gross tuber yields. However, Agria produced more roots and gross tuber yield than Sante, and it is concluded that Agria is a more drought‐tolerant potato cultivar, which is recommended for tuber production in regions where water might be scarce. It was shown that larger root production in potatoes was associated with improved tolerance to water stress.