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.     

牦牛源正呼肠孤病毒2型的检测和分离鉴定

旨在调查川西北牦牛哺乳动物正呼肠孤病毒（MRV）的感染情况并分离病毒。采用RT-PCR方法，对采自川西北15个牧场的72份牦牛腹泻粪便样本和其中5个牧场的15份腹泻牦牛血清样本进行MRV检测，阳性样本进一步用分型PCR确定其血清型。结果显示，粪便样本中MRV检出率为20.83%（15/72），血清2型的比例为60%（9/15）；血清样本中MRV检出率为40%（6/15），血清2型的比例为83.33%（5/6）；未检测到其他血清型。成功地从腹泻粪便中分离到1株MRV血清2型毒株（TCID₅₀为4×10^-8.56·mL^-1），并获得长度为23 587 bp的分离株全基因组，该分离株与中国猪源毒株的遗传关系最近；与GenBank中所有的MRV S1基因相比，该分离株有4个独特的氨基酸突变。本研究从牦牛中检测到MRV，并分离到1株牛源MRV血清2型毒株，为进一步研究MRV血清2型生物学特性奠定了基础。     

葡萄风信子物候期观察与观赏性状分析

对荷兰引进的10个葡萄风信子品种进行露地栽培,对其物候期及观赏性状进行观察与评价.结果表明,引进的10个葡萄风信子品种在苏州地区露地栽培均能正常开花;其中"大微笑""幻想创造""蓝魔法""触雪"等品种适宜在园林中推广与应用.     

Do cover crops change the lability of phosphorus in a clayey subtropical soil under different phosphate fertilizers?

Plants have developed different mechanisms to absorb and solubilize phosphorus (P) in the soil, especially in environments with low P availability. This study evaluated the effects of different winter cover crops on soil P availability in a clayey subtropical (Hapludox) soil receiving soluble P fertilizer and a rock phosphate applied to the summer crop, under no‐tillage. The experiment was carried out over 3 yrs (2009–2011) with five different cover crop species: common vetch, fodder radish, ryegrass, black oat, white clover and fallow as control. The soil was sampled after the third year of cover crop cultivation and analysed for inorganic and organic P forms according to the well‐established Hedley fractionation procedure. Phosphate fertilizers promoted accumulation of both labile and nonlabile P pools in soil in the near surface layer, especially under rock phosphate. Fertilizer applications were not able to change P fractions in deeper layers, emphasizing that the Brazilian clayey soils are a sink of P from fertilizer and its mobility is almost nil. Although the cover crops recycled a great amount of P in tissue, in a short‐term evaluation (3 yrs) they only changed the content of moderately labile P in soil, indicating that long‐term studies are needed for more conclusive results.     

The effect of feeding a novel multistrain yeast fraction on European seabass (Dicentrachus labrax) intestinal health and growth performance

Fish were fed a single‐strain yeast fraction (SsYF; 2 g/kg) or a multistrain yeast fraction (MsYF; 0.8 g/kg) for 10 weeks. The results demonstrated significant (p ≤ 0.03) elevations in weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and feed conversion ratio in fish fed the yeast fraction‐supplemented diets. In the distal intestine, a significant elevation in microvilli density was observed after 5 and 10 weeks of dietary supplementation with MsYF and SsYF, respectively, compared to control fed fish (p < 0.001). A significant elevation (p = 0.02) in the perimeter ratio was observed in fish fed diets supplemented with the yeast fractions. After 10 weeks of feeding on the experimental diets, Rt‐qPCR demonstrated a significant downregulation (p < 0.05) in the stress response genes, heat‐shock protein 70 (hsp70) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (pcna), in fish fed diets supplemented with the yeast fractions. Significant (p < 0.05) elevations in interleukin 1‐beta (il1β) and interleukin‐10 (il10) gene expression were observed in fish fed diets supplemented with the MsYF compared to the other dietary groups. These findings suggest that feeding an MsYF specifically at a lower incorporation rate < 1 g/kg, compared to a commercial SsYF at 2 g/kg, is effective in improving the intestinal health status and growth performance of European seabass.     

香蕉新品种‘南天红’

香蕉新品种‘南天红’由‘南天黄’的自然突变选育而成。假茎平均高度2.59 m，幼树假茎外表面暗红色，抽蕾后转绿。雄花苞片外表面常为深红色，花苞卷曲，常不脱落；从种植到收获11 ~ 13个月，单株产量25 kg，品质好。中高抗香蕉枯萎病4号小种，采用配套的栽培技术可在所有香蕉种植区推广。     

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.     

Spatiotemporal patterns of mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in response to a restoration of longitudinal connectivity

To examine the role of longitudinal connectivity on the spatial and temporal dynamics of mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni), we quantified movement and population dynamics following installation of the Landsburg Dam fishway, Cedar River, WA, USA. Mountain whitefish is widely distributed, poorly studied and not the focus of restoration. Before the fishway, mountain whitefish were not observed above the dam. Here, we focus on snorkel counts collected at reach and mesohabitat (e.g. pools) scales over 11 summers on the 20‐km above‐dam segment following restoration. A camera within the ladder provided number, size and movement timing, thereby informing on behaviour and recolonisation. Segment‐scale abundance increased following fish passage reaching an asymptote in 7 years, and mountain whitefish were detected throughout the main stem in 10 years. Annual movement through the ladder increased over time and was positively correlated with instream abundance and discharge, but negatively correlated with water temperature. About 60% of fish movements occurred in spring and early summer, potentially for foraging opportunities. Reach‐scale abundance peaked between 7 and 10 km from the dam; deep, cool (~10.6 to 11.6°C) conditions characterised these reaches. At the mesohabitat scale, mountain whitefish detection increased with depth and velocity after accounting for distance from the dam. Our results show how restoring longitudinal connectivity allowed this nontarget species to colonise newly available habitat. Their response supports the critical roles of longitudinal connectivity and environmental conditions, that manifest at different spatial scales, in dictating how freshwater fish respond to habitat disturbance.