A note on the effects of co-mingling piglet litters on pre-weaning growth, injuries and responses to behavioural tests

The purpose of this study was to determine how co-mingling litters affected piglets’ pre-weaning growth, ear injuries, suckling behaviour and responses to behavioural tests used to measure coping abilities. Thirty sows and their respective litters were housed in standard farrowing crates until day 13 after birth. On day13, the partition between two neighbouring pens was removed for 20 litters allowing piglets to interact (forming 10 co-mingled litters). The remaining 10 control litters were kept in standard farrowing crates throughout the experiment. Three focal piglets from each litter were used for data collection. Focal piglets were weighed and ear injuries recorded on days 2, 4, 9, 12, 15 and 18 after birth. There were no differences in piglets’ weight gain before or after co-mingling. Ear injuries were more abundant in co-mingled litters on day 15 (P < 0.05) but these differences disappeared by day 18. Suckling behaviour was recorded on days 5, 8, 10, 14, 16 and 18 after birth. There were no differences in teat fidelity, suckling frequency and mother fidelity between treatments. Three behavioural tests, social challenge, isolation, and backtest, were performed before and after co-mingling. There were no treatment effects on piglets’ response to the isolation test and backtest. Co-mingled piglets showed longer latency for the first aggressive interaction (P < 0.05), spent more time in proximity to one another (P < 0.05) and performed less single bites (P < 0.05) than control piglets during the social challenge. In addition, the duration and frequency of aggressive interactions (P < 0.05) were lower in co-mingled piglets than control piglets. Co-mingling did not affect the frequency of single head thrusts or oral–nasal contact, but did tend to increase the frequency of escape attempts (P < 0.10). Our results suggest that co-mingling litters during lactation affects piglets’ social behaviour, by primarily decreasing aggressive interactions during social challenges.     

Sleep and optimism: A longitudinal study of bidirectional causal relationship and its mediating and moderating variables in a Chinese student sample

While both sleep and optimism have been found to be predictive of well-being, few studies have examined their relationship with each other. Neither do we know much about the mediators and moderators of the relationship. This study investigated (1) the causal relationship between sleep quality and optimism in a college student sample, (2) the role of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress as mediators, and (3) how circadian preference might moderate the relationship. Internet survey data were collected from 1,684 full-time university students (67.6% female, mean age = 20.9 years, SD = 2.66) at three time-points, spanning about 19 months. Measures included the Attributional Style Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Composite Scale of Morningness, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Moderate correlations were found among sleep quality, depressive mood, stress symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and optimism. Cross-lagged analyses showed a bidirectional effect between optimism and sleep quality. Moreover, path analyses demonstrated that anxiety and stress symptoms partially mediated the influence of optimism on sleep quality, while depressive mood partially mediated the influence of sleep quality on optimism. In support of our hypothesis, sleep quality affects mood symptoms and optimism differently for different circadian preferences. Poor sleep results in depressive mood and thus pessimism in non-morning persons only. In contrast, the aggregated (direct and indirect) effects of optimism on sleep quality were invariant of circadian preference. Taken together, people who are pessimistic generally have more anxious mood and stress symptoms, which adversely affect sleep while morningness seems to have a specific protective effect countering the potential damage poor sleep has on optimism. In conclusion, optimism and sleep quality were both cause and effect of each other. Depressive mood partially explained the effect of sleep quality on optimism, whereas anxiety and stress symptoms were mechanisms bridging optimism to sleep quality. This was the first study examining the complex relationships among sleep quality, optimism, and mood symptoms altogether longitudinally in a student sample. Implications on prevention and intervention for sleep problems and mood disorders are discussed.     

ImShot: An Open-Source Software for Probabilistic Identification of Proteins In Situ and Visualization of Proteomics Data

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has developed into a powerful tool allowing label-free detection of numerous biomolecules in situ. In contrast to shotgun proteomics, proteins/peptides can be detected directly from biological tissues and correlated to its morphology leading to a gain of crucial clinical information. However, direct identification of the detected molecules is currently challenging for MALDI–IMS, thereby compelling researchers to use complementary techniques and resource intensive experimental setups. Despite these strategies, sufficient information could not be extracted because of lack of an optimum data combination strategy/software. Here, we introduce a new open-source software ImShot that aims at identifying peptides obtained in MALDI–IMS. This is achieved by combining information from IMS and shotgun proteomics (LC–MS) measurements of serial sections of the same tissue. The software takes advantage of a two-group comparison to determine the search space of IMS masses after deisotoping the corresponding spectra. Ambiguity in annotations of IMS peptides is eliminated by introduction of a novel scoring system that identifies the most likely parent protein of a detected peptide in the corresponding IMS dataset. Thanks to its modular structure, the software can also handle LC–MS data separately and display interactive enrichment plots and enriched Gene Ontology terms or cellular pathways. The software has been built as a desktop application with a conveniently designed graphic user interface to provide users with a seamless experience in data analysis. ImShot can run on all the three major desktop operating systems and is freely available under Massachusetts Institute of Technology license.     

Maternal protectiveness and response to the unfamiliar in vervet monkeys

Vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) show individual differences in approach-avoidance behavior when faced with an unfamiliar and potentially threatening situation. Prior research from our colony demonstrated that juveniles who had experienced high levels of early maternal protectiveness were more cautious in response to novelty, compared to juveniles who had had less protective mothers. The research reported here was designed to verify this result in a paradigm that experimentally varied maternal protectiveness through the introduction of new breeding adult males. Mothers responded to the presence of new males by increased maternal protectiveness toward infants born in the year following the introductions. Individual differences in response to the unfamiliar were later evaluated by measuring the latency to approach within 1 m of novel food containers placed into the home enclosure of four naturally composed social groups. Infants approached with the same latency and in the same order as their mothers. Juveniles approached sooner than, and independent of, their mother's current behavior, but their latency to approach could be predicted by the experimentally induced variation in maternal protectiveness they had experienced as infants. Immatures who had been born in New Male years, when maternal protectiveness was high, were more cautious and had significantly longer latencies to approach the novel stimulus compared to immatures who had been born in Resident Male years. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

教学医院毕业实习教学管理模式的实践探索

目的 分析高校附属医院临床医学专业应届毕业生对毕业实习教学管理的满意度,为完善毕业实习教学管理模式提出对策。为提高毕业实习教学水平和学生整体素质教育提供参考。 方法 制定学生对教师、教师对学生、学生对教学资源的评价指标,对临床医学专业应届毕业生、实习带教老师进行问卷调查。 结果 教师对学生“学习态度”“独立完成操作”的满意度均高于95%;学生对教师教学纪律、教学准备、和教学能力的满意度均达到100%;学生对设备准备、耗材准备、毕业实习学时安排满意度均高于95%。发现了医学生毕业实习管理工作中存在的具体问题。结论 高校附属医院要建立完善毕业实习管理制度,加强毕业实习质量监督,科学制定考核制度。     

云南产玉米须的化学成分研究

从玉米须60%乙醇提取液中分离得到了14个化合物,经波谱学方法分别鉴定为柯伊利素-7-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷(1)、柯伊利素-6-C-β-波伊文糖-7-O-β-葡萄糖苷(2)、柯伊利素-6-C-β-波伊文糖苷(3)、L-鼠李糖(4)、豆甾-4-烯-3β,6β-二醇(5)、7α-羟基谷甾醇(6)、7β-羟基谷甾醇(7)、胡萝卜苷棕榈酸酯(8)、大豆脑苷I(9)、7α-羟基谷甾醇-3-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷(10)、麦角甾-7,22-二烯-3β,5α,6β-三醇(11)、棕榈酸(12)、胡萝卜苷(13)和β-谷甾醇(14),其中化合物1、4和7～12为首次从玉米须中分离得到。     

认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响

该文主要通过测评研究认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响。结果表明,场独立性者对图形的认知反应能力比场依赖性者强。情绪稳定性高者的认知反应能力好于情绪稳定性低者,外向性格者的认知反应能力总体上要高于内向性格者。     

认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响

该文主要通过测评研究认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响。结果表明,场独立性者对图形的认知反应能力比场依赖性者强,情绪稳定性高者的认知反应能力好于情绪稳定性低者,外向性格者的认知反应能力总体上要高于内向性格者。     

Diferencias en función de la edad y la autopercepción del envejecimiento en ansiedad,tristeza, soledad y sintomatología comórbida ansioso-depresiva durante el confinamiento por la COVID-19

ObjectivesTo analyze differences by age group in anxiety, depression, loneliness and comorbid anxiety and depression in young people, middle aged adults and older adults during the lock-down period at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to explore the association between negative self-perceptions of aging and psychological symptoms controlling by age group.MethodParticipants are 1501 people (age range 18 to 88 years). Anxiety, sadness, loneliness and self-perceptions of aging were assessed. The sample was divided according to the age group and quartiles (lower, intermediate levels, and higher) of anxiety, sadness, loneliness and self-perceptions of aging.ResultsOlder adults reported lower levels of anxiety and sadness than middle aged adults, and middle aged adults reported lower levels than younger participants. Middle aged adults reported the lowest loneliness, followed by older adults and younger participants. For each age group, those with more negative self-perceptions of aging reported higher anxiety, sadness and loneliness. More comorbid anxiety and sadness was found in younger adults and less in older adults; more depressed participants in the middle aged group, and more older adults and less younger participants were found in the group with the lowest levels of anxiety and sadness. For all the age groups, participants with high levels of comorbid anxiety and sadness are those who report the highest scores in negative self-perceptions of aging.ConclusionsOlder adults reported lower psychological anxiety, sadness and loneliness than the other age groups. Having negative self-perceptions of aging damage psychological health irrespective of the chronological age.     

Capture and Mortality Rates of Ducks in Selected Trap Types

ABSTRACT We evaluated different trap styles and related mortality of trapped ducks (Anas spp.) for 3 field seasons as part of the United States-Canada Cooperative Waterfowl Banding Program. During 2002, we evaluated 4 trap designs and caught 10,966 ducks. Trap style affected capture rates (P = 0.018, F₅ = 9.02), with Benning II and oval traps catching more ducks than cloverleaf and star traps. In 2003, we tested 3 trap styles and caught 10,849 ducks. Trap style affected duck capture rates (P < 0.01, F₅ = 15.16), with oval traps with 6-m lead panels catching more ducks than Benning II traps and cloverleaf traps. During 2004, we tested 3 trap styles and caught 11,737 ducks. Trap style affected capture rates (P < 0.01, F₅ = 11.23), with oval traps with 6-m leads catching more ducks than either the oval trap without leads or Benning II traps. Trap style affected mortality rates of ducks, but overall mortality of trapped ducks was low with a rate of 1.16% in 2002, 0.32% in 2003, and 0.17% in 2004; mortality was not a major problem in our study. Waterfowl managers may be able to catch more ducks using oval traps with leads without increasing mortality of captured ducks.