Search

Aims: We tested the hypothesis that the behaviour of an individual is associated with the diversity of its gut bacteria, using the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) as a model. Methods and Results: In all, 24 adult male collared peccaries received either low‐ (n = 12) or high‐fibre diet (n = 12) to induce contrasting gut fermentation profiles. They were submitted to three short‐term challenges, allowing us to rate the animals in a coping‐style dimension named 'calmness'. At the end of the experimental period, we collected samples of peccaries' forestomach contents to characterize bacterial diversity. We found a significant positive association between individual 'calmness' z‐scores and the bacterial evenness index in gut bacteria (and a similar trend with the Simpson's diversity index), suggesting a more homogeneous bacterial community of calmer individuals. We also found a positive association between fibres digestibility and gut bacterial diversity in the peccaries' forestomach, but no effect of the dietary fibre level. Conclusions: Gut bacteria evenness increases with 'calmness' z‐scores, suggesting a more homogeneous bacterial community of calmer individuals, compared with the more heterogeneous of the most distressed ones. Our results also suggest associations between the digestibility of ADF with the gut bacterial diversity indices and with the relative abundance of the Actinobacteria phylum. Significance and Impact of the Study: Our data showed that the hosts' individual behavioural differences are potentially aligned with gut bacterial diversity. The behaviour–microbiota link is correlated with host feed efficiency and, ultimately, may have implications for animal health and welfare of farm animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in how individuals cope with stressful conditions (e.g. novel/unfamiliar environment, social isolation and increases in human contact) can explain the variability in data collection from nutrient digestibility trials. We used the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which is under process of domestication and shows high individual behavioral distinctiveness in reactions toward humans, to test the hypothesis that behavioral differences play a role in nutrient digestibility. We assessed the individual behavioral traits of 24 adult male collared peccaries using both the 'behavioral coding' and the 'subjective ratings' approaches. For the behavioral coding assessment, we recorded the hourly frequency of behaviors potentially indicative of stress during the 30-day habituation period to the experimental housing conditions. The subjective ratings were performed based on the individuals' reactions to three short-term challenge tests (novel environment, novel object and threat from a capture net) over a period of 56 days. During the last 26 days, the collared peccaries were fed diets either high (n = 12) or low (n = 12) in dietary fiber levels, and we determined the total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients. The individual subjective ratings showed consistency in the correlated measures of 'relaxedness', 'quietness' and 'satisfaction' across the three challenge tests, which were combined to produce z score ratings of one derived variable ('calmness'). Individual frequency of BPIS/h and calmness scores were negatively correlated and both predicted the total tract digestibility of acid detergent fiber (ADF), which ranged from 0.41 to 0.79. The greater the calmness z scores (i.e. calmer individuals), the greater the total tract digestibility of ADF. In contrast, the higher the frequency of BPIS/h, the lower the total tract digestibility of ADF. Therefore, our results provide evidence that by selecting calmer collared peccaries, there will be an increase in their capacity to digest dietary fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on historical materials on a model capitalist industry in Shanghai, China. On the establishment of the Shanghai Tobacco Workers' Union, the workers seized the opportunity to make various demands for an improvement in their livelihood. The capitalists at first tried to suppress the workers, but after realizing that the workers were united as one, all members of the administrative staff were in fact admitted to the Association, in which senior members of the staff were in complete control of its most powerful organ. The workers launched a full-scale attack and the entire committee was forced to resign. Most of the new committee members elected were workers and it was only then that the Association became exclusively a trade union of the workers. The total number of male and female workers on the day and night shifts of the South Seas Brothers Tobacco Company is over six thousand, and they feel that maintaining their livelihood has been difficult over the past year. The workers have made a total of seventeen demands, but there are no details on all of them.