Music or other background sounds are often played in barns as environmental enrichment for animals on farms or to mask sudden disruptive noises. Previous studies looking at the effects of this practice on non-human animal well-being and productivity have found contradictory results. However, there is still a lack of discussion on whether piglets have the ability to distinguish different types of music. In this study, we exposed piglets to different music conditions to investigate whether the piglets preferred certain music types, in which case those types would have the potential to be used as environmental enrichment. In total, 30 piglets were tested for music type preference to determine whether growing pigs respond differently to different types of music. We used music from two families of instruments (S: string, W: wind) and with two tempos (S: slow, 65 beats/min (bpm); F: fast, 200 bpm), providing four music-type combinations (SS: string-slow; SF: string-fast; WS: wind-slow; WF: wind-fast). The piglets were given a choice between two chambers, one with no music and the other with one of the four types of music, and their behaviour was observed. The results showed that SS and WF music significantly increased residence time (P<0.01) compared with the other music conditions. Compared with the control group (with no music), the different music conditions led to different behavioural responses, where SS music significantly increased lying (P<0.01) and exploration behaviour (P<0.01); SF music significantly increased tail-wagging behaviour (P<0.01); WS music significantly increased exploration (P<0.01); and WF music significantly increased walking, lying, standing and exploration (all P<0.01). The results also showed that musical instruments and tempo had little effect on most of the behaviours. Fast-tempo music significantly increased walking (P=0.02), standing (P<0.01) and tail wagging (P=0.04) compared with slow-tempo music. In conclusion, the results of this experiment show that piglets are more sensitive to tempo than to musical instruments in their response to musical stimulation and seem to prefer SS and WF music to the other two types. The results also suggest a need for further research on the effect of music types on animals.

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Flax oil is the main goal of growing flaxseed. Flax oil has been used for nutrition, food, paint binder, putty, and wood finish. However, synthetic resin from flax oil has not been developed. In this paper we will develop a biopolymer derived from flax oil and the goal is to use it as a resin to produce a viable, biodegradable composite using natural fiber as reinforcement. First, the functionalization of the triglyceride group of the flax oil fatty acids with polymerizable chemical groups was studied. The triglyceride molecule of flax oil was epoxidized by the reaction of double bonds in the fatty acid with a peroxy acid (formic acid) to get epoxidized oil; the epoxidized oil was then reacted with ethylenically substituted carboxylic acid (acrylic acid) to form acrylated epoxidized flax oil. Polymer resins were prepared from flax oil by blending acrylated epoxidized flax oil with styrene and a free radical initiator. The characterization of developed polymer and the intermediates during processing were investigated. This technology will add value to flax oil by converting it to a bio-based resin for industrial use, which will offer significant opportunities for new, improved materials from renewable resources.

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