Rodent-Proof Wall: An Efficient Physical Method for Controlling Rodents and its Efficiency Statistics.

Rodent damage poses a significant threat to crops, human life, and health. Compared to chemical rodent control, such as placing poisonous baits, it is more economical and environmentally friendly to use physical methods, such as building a rodent-proof wall. This study introduces a method of physically controlling harmful rodents and four methods of calculating the effect of rodents control. To understand the controlling effect of the rodent-proof wall, an investigation was conducted on the Dongting Lake beach and corresponding farmland in the embankment in April and July 2012. Our findings illustrated that the density of the reed vole Microtus fortis in the farmland with rodent-proof walls was 0.52%, significantly lower than that in the farmland without rodent-proof walls (1.76%) after artificial trapping and drug extermination (χ2 = 3.900, P = 0.048). The density of M. fortis that had migrated into the farmland in dikes with a rodent-proof wall decreased by 98.53%, significantly higher than the decrease of density in dikes without a rodent-proof wall (86.61%) (χ2 = 11.060, P = 0.01). The results demonstrated the effectiveness of rodent-proof wall control. Therefore, building a rodent-proof wall should be advocated and vigorously promoted to prevent the migration of rodents into the Dongting Lake area and similar environments, as they cause harm.

[Impact of deep slow-wave sleep deprivation on oxidative stress response of the testis tissue in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of deep slow-wave sleep deprivation on the oxidative stress of testicular tissue in rats. METHODS: Thirty-six 5-week-old male Wistar rats were equally randomized into deep slow-wave sleep deprivation group (SD1), deep slow-wave sleep and duration sleep deprivation group ( SD2), and a cage control group (CC). The rat model of deep slow-wave sleep deprivation was established using the flowerpot technique. The rats in the SD1 group were interfered every 24 minutes and deprived of 12 hours of sleep at night, those in the SD2 group deprived of 8 minutes of sleep at an interval of 24 minutes and 12 hours of sleep at night, and those in the CC group exposed to 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. After 28 days, all the rats were executed for measurement of the testis volume and protein content, determination of the methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) level and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and observation of the pathological changes in the testicular tissue under the microscope. RESULTS: Compared with the CC group, the rats in the SD1 and SD2 groups showed significantly reduced body weight (ï¼»268.5 ± 1.6ï¼½ vs ï¼»248.1 ± 25.1ï¼½andï¼»232.9 ± 10.1ï¼½g, P<0.05) and increased relative testis mass (ï¼»50.0 ± 1.3ï¼½ vs ï¼»57.9 ± 6.1ï¼½ and ï¼»54.9 ± 3.5ï¼½ ×10⁻², P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were found between the CC and SD2 groups in the contents of protein (ï¼»6.3 ± 1.4ï¼½ vs ï¼»4.5 ± 0.9ï¼½ gpro/L, P<0.05) and MDA (ï¼»1.1 ± 0.1ï¼½ vs ï¼»1.3 ± 0.3ï¼½ nmol/mgpro, P<0.05) and the activities of SOD (ï¼»104.3 ± 33.1ï¼½ vs ï¼»135.2 ± 26.9ï¼½ U/mgpro, P<0.05) and GSH-Px (ï¼»15.6 ± 4.0ï¼½ vs ï¼»21.7 ± 4.3ï¼½ U/mgpro, P<0.05), but not between the CC and SD1 groups (P>0.05). The lumens in the testis were narrowed, with obvious hyperplasia, hyperemia and edema in the peripheral interstitial tissue, but no significant pathologic changes were observed in the testis tissue of the SD1 group. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term deprivation of deep slow-wave sleep impairs the structure of the testis tissue and induces oxidative stress response in rats.

[Possible impacts of the Three Gorges Project and converting farmland into lake on the Microtus fortis population in Dongting Lake region].

The outbreak of Yantze vole (Microtus fortis) population in Dongting Lake region is closely related to the evolvement of lake beaches, because the deposition of lake sediments results in the expansion of lake beaches, which provides the possibility of the increase of the vole's population. Reclaiming farmland from lake via building cofferdams, eliminating snails by building cofferdams for eradicating schistosomiasis, and over-hunting predators in the region cause the voles becoming a pest after the 1970s. In recent years, the Three Gorges Project and the conversion from farmland into lake have had deep impacts on the environment in the Lake region. The dispatching of the down flow rate by the Project induces the expansion of the low and medium level beaches in the Lake region, while converting farmland into lake directly induces the increase of beach area, both of which expand the potential habitats of the vole's population. Therefore, more attention should be paid on the quantitative variation trend of the vole's population in the future.