During the lactation period, piglets experience intense social interactions with their littermates until they establish a reliable teat order on the mother's udder. Here, we examined group suckling cohesion in piglet littermates, an order mechanism that refer to the maintenance of significantly similar inter-individual distances on the udder and operates prior to the establishment of teat order. We analysed the suckling positions of 160 piglets from 16 litters, the distances between individuals on the udder in each suckling, and the stability of their suckling positions during lactation. Teat order stabilised by day 10 (PSuck = 0.62) and remained relatively stable (0.60) throughout the rest of lactation. Littermates tended to maintain significantly similar distances from one another on the udder throughout lactation [r = 0.30 (p ( 0.05) to 0.99 (p ( 0.0001)], although suckling stability remained incomplete. Partial analysis of suckling stability (examining each litter and period separately) revealed that the teat order did not always remain stable throughout lactation. However, group suckling cohesion was normally rigid and was unaffected by interruptions in teat order. Group suckling cohesion was an aspect of piglets development of fixity on particular teats and thus was a part of the establishment of a teat order. Significantly higher mortality (71% of all recorded cases; p ( 0.05) occurred in litters in which neither group suckling cohesion nor a stable teat order was established during the first days of lactation. Such litters were produced by sows with significantly lower parity (p ( 0.05). A late start to suckling cohesion and a late establishment of teat order appear to compromise survival.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3670572
The advantages and disadvantages of varying mixture proportion of crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), used as winter cover crops, and cover crop biomass management before maize sowing (Zea mays L.) were studied in a series of field experiments in Eastern Slovenia. Pure stands and mixtures of cover crops on the main plots were split into different cover crop biomass management subplots: whole cover crop biomass ploughed down before maize sowing, aboveground cover crop biomass removed before ploughing and sowing, or aboveground cover crop biomass removed before sowing directly into chemically killed residues.Cover crop and cover crop biomass management affected the N content of the whole aboveground and of grain maize yields, and the differences between actual and critical N concentrations in the whole aboveground maize yield. The whole aboveground and grain maize dry matter yields, and the apparent remaining N in the soil after maize harvesting, showed significant interaction responses to cover crop management, indicating positive and negative effects. Crimson clover in pure stand provided high, and pure Italian ryegrass provided low maize dry matter yields and N content in the yields in all the observed methods of biomass management. However, within individual management, mixtures containing high proportions of crimson clover sustained maize yields and N contents similar to those produced by pure crimson clover. Considering the expected ecological advantages of the mixtures, the results thereby support their use.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3658796
Supernatants obtained from four Lactobacillus plantarum strains were evaluated for their effects on normal and cancerogenic human cells. After growing bacteria in human cell culture media for 24 h, two fractions containing extracellular components with low ((10kDa) and high ()10kDa) molecular mass were generated by ultrafiltration. Proliferation tests were done on H4, CaCo-2, Melanoma and TLT cells. The (10kDa fraction obtained from two of the tested strains significantly increased proliferation of H4 cells by increasing the proportion of cells in G2/M cell cycle phase. The active components causing proliferation of H4 cells were confirmed to be of protein origin. Different active components (not affected by a protease), from the (10kDa samples decreased the proliferation of cancerogenic CaCo-2 and Melanoma cells. The (10kDa fraction also increased transepithelial electrical resistance of H4 cells and decreased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 in a co-cultured model of H4/TLT cells under inflammatory conditions.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3747116
A total of 19 different anthocyanins have been detected in four elderberry species and eight hybrids and quantified with the use of HPLC–MSn. The profile and content levels of anthocyanins varied considerably among the analyzed elderberry species and hybrids. Cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside were the most abundant anthocyanins in Sambucus nigra fruits. On the other hand, the prevalent anthocyanin in S. javanica hybrids was identified as cyanidin-3-(E)-p-coumaroyl-sambubioside-5-glucoside. The highest content of total analyzed anthocyanins (TAA) was determined in berries of the interspecific hybrid S. javanica × S. racemosa, followed by S. nigra, (S. javanica × S. nigra) × cv. Black Beauty, and (S. javanica × S. nigra) × S. cerulea. Berries of S. nigra var. viridis contained significantly lower levels of TAA. Our results provide novel information for nutritional research in addition to breeding programs, which strive to create new hybrids or cultivars with enhanced levels of bioactive components.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7976569
Continuous change over an area of 238 km2 of the “classic” Karst in Slovenia, previously severely defor-ested, has resulted in a change of the landscape identity in last 250 years (from 1763/1787 to 2012): grasslands declined from 82 to 20% and forests progressed from 17 to 73%. The Multi-Layer Perceptron model was validated before making predictions for further landscape change using the Markov chain method: a predicted map for 2009 was produced and compared with an actual one. Image similarity statistics indicate 89% similarity and the spatial distribution of predicted grasslands agrees in 98% of loca-tions. The prediction estimates that grasslands will cover 18 km2 less in 2025 than today and will then shrink to just 6 km2 (3%) in 2100. The speed of grassland overgrowing was calculated on 2.2 km2/year. For-est area will expand by 18 km2 until 2025, compared to 2012. In 2075, forest will cover 88% of the whole study area, and will reach 90% in 2100, achieving then an almost steady-state situation. Calculation of the spatial change trend for grasslands enabled us also to determine where in space the overgrowing process will occur during each of the predicted periods. Congruent aspects of changed landscape identity (e.g. landscape beauty, diversity, and wilderness) are discussed, but according to legal obligations regarding the conservation of Natura 2000 grassland habitats, the management with grassland remnants (5% of grasslands was already lost after the Slovenian accession to EU in 2004) are suggested to be incorporated in landscape planning.
COBISS.SI-ID: 20808712