• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2011

Extra heavy oil reservoirs are distributed over the world but most of them is deposited in the northern part of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, in the area of 5,500 $km^2$, This region, which has been commonly called "the Orinoco Oil Belt", contains estimated 1.3 trillion barrels of original oil-in-place and 250 billion barrels of established reserves. The Venezuela extra heavy oil has an API gravity of less than 10 degree and in situ viscosity of 5,000 cP at reservoir condition. Although the presence of extra heavy oil in the Orinoco Oil Belt has been initially reported in the 1930's, the commercial development using in situ cold production started in the 1990's. The Orinoco heavy oil deposits are clustered into 4 development areas, Boyaco, Junin, Ayachoco, and Carabobo respectively, and they are subdivided into totally 31 production blocks. Nowadays, PDVSA (Petr$\'{o}$leos de Venzuela, S.A.) makes a development of each production block with the international oil companies from more than 20 countries forming a international joint-venture company. The Eastern Venezuela Basin, the Orinoco Oil Belt is included in, is one of the major oil-bearing sedimentary basins in Venezuela and is first formed as a passive margin basin by the Jurassic tectonic plate motion. The major source rock of heavy oil is the late Cretaceous calcareous shale in the central Eastern Venezuela Basin. Hydrocarbon materials migrated an average of 150 km up dip to the southern margin of the basin. During the migration, lighter fractions in the hydrocarbon were removed by biodegradation and the oil changed into heavy and/or extra heavy oil. Miocene Oficina Formation, the main extra heavy oil reservoir, is the unconsolidated sand and shale alternation formed in fluvial-estuarine environment and also has irregularly a large number of the Cenozoic faults induced by basin subsidence and tectonics. Because Oficina Formation has not only complex lithology distribution but also irregular geology structure, geological evolution and characteristics of the reservoirs have to be determined for economical production well design and effective oil recovery. This study introduces geological formation and evolution of the Venezuela extra heavy oil reservoirs and suggest their significant geological characteristics which are (1) thickness and geometry of reservoir pay sands, (2) continuity and thickness of mud beds, (3) geometry of faults, (4) depth and geothermal character of reservoir, (5) in-situ stress field of reservoir, and (6) chemical composition of extra heavy oil. Newly developed exploration techniques, such as 3-D seismic survey and LWD (logging while drilling), can be expected as powerful methods to recognize the geological reservoir characteristics in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.350-355
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• 1995

This study was conducted to use oyster shells, which have caused environmental problems in the coastal of Korea, as an agricultural material after processing. Physico-chemical components and neutralizing amount on the Ihyun silt loam of crushed oyster shell and slaked lime were examined. In field experiment, the properties of the soil, growth and yield of lettuce, cabbage, spinach, onion, red pepper and soybean were examined by the treatments of the shell(3.68ton/ha) or the lime (2.76ton/ha) with a randomized block design. Particle size of crushed oyster shell consisted of 73.4% of 1~60mesh and 26.6% larger then 61 mesh and contents of CaO, OM, and $P_2O_5$, etc. were 55.5%, 1.3%, and 0.29%, respectively. The requirement of the shell to neutralize the soil was 130~135% of the lime, but after 24months, it was the same. The application of the shell increased the contents of available $P_2O_5$ and $SiO_2$ exchangeable Ca in used soil. The shell tratment increased the leaf height, leaf width, etc. of the examined plants, and the yields 6~154% according to examined plants, as compared with the nonliminged, indicating that the shell possesses a great potential as an agricultural material with the same effectiveness as the lime.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 1999

This study was conducted to evaluate the dry matter yield and quality of mixture swards associated with Festulolium braunii(Festuca pratensis Huds. ${\times}$ Lolium multiflorum Lam.). The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with four mixture types: A(control); orchardgrass(seeding rate 60%) + tall fescue 20% + Kentucky bluegrass 10% + white clover 10%, B; orchardgrass 60% + tall fescue 20% + Festulolium braunii 10% + white clover 10%, C; orchardgrass 60% + Festulolium braunii 20% + Kentucky bluegrass 10% + white clover 10%, and D; orchardgrass 30% + Festulolium braunii 30% + red clover 40%. This study was carried out from Sept. 1996 to Dec. 1998 at Chungnam National University. The DM yield of D mixture type was higher than that of other mixture types(P<0.05). Compared with A(control) mixture type, the DM yield of the B mixture type which substitutes Kentucky bluegrass with Festulolium braunii was higher, but the C mixture type which substitutes tall fescue with Festulolium braunii was lower than that of A(control) mixture type. The content of CP, NDF, ADF, hemi-cellulose and cellulose among mixture types shows no significant differdence. Howerever, the DMD was not significantly different among mixture types in 1997, but the DMD of C and D mixture type were significantly higher than those of other mixture types in 1998(P<0.05). On the otherhand, the yield of CP and DDM in D mixture types was higher than those of the other mixture types(P<0.05). In botanical composition, the Festulolium braunii percentage of B, C and D mixture type with mixed Festulolium braunii wasd highly maintained, especially D mixture type was ranging from 40% to 60% in experimental periods. Following the above result, It is the most favorable mixture method for Festulolium braunii to make use of top grass like orchardgrass + red clover. It is also recommened to substitute bottom grass like Kentucky bluegrass with Festulolium braunii rather than with tall fescue in A(control) mixture type.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1149-1155
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• 2011

Myostatin (MSTN) belongs to the transforming growth factor-${\beta}$ superfamily or growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), and functions as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development and growth. Previous studies in mammals have suggested that myostatin knock-out increased muscle mass and decreased fat content compared to those of the wide type. Recently, several studies on myostatin have beenconducted on the block myostatin signal pathway with myostatin antagonists and the MSTN regulation with RNAi to control myostatin function. This study was performed to analyze growth and muscle alteration of Oncorhychus masou by treatment with recombinant myostatin prodomains derived from fish. We designed myostatin prodomains derived from P. olivaceus (pMALc2x-poMSTNpro) and S. schlegeli (pMALc2x-sMSTNpro) in a pMALc2x expression vector, and then purified the recombinant proteins using affinity chromatography. The purified recombinant proteins were treated in O. masou through an immersion method. Recombinant protein treated groups did not show a significant difference in weight, protein, or lipid composition compared to the control. However, there was a difference in the average number and area for histological analyses in the muscle fiber. At twelve and twenty-two weeks from the initial treatment, there were differences in averagefiber number and area between the 0.05 mg/l treated-group and the control, but the numbers were similar to those of the control during the same time period. At twelve weeks, however, 0.2 mg/l treated-group had an increase in average fiber number and decrease in average fiber area compared to the control. At twenty-two weeks, the pMALc2x-sMSTNpro 0.2 mg/l treated-group was induced and showed a decrease in average fiber number and increase in average fiber area. The results between twelve and twenty-two weeks showed that the fiber numbers had decreased, whereas average fiberarea had increased due to sMSTNpro. It is understood that the sMSTNpro induced only hyperplasia at twelve weeks, after which it induced hypertrophy. Recombinant myostatin prodomains derived from fish may induce hyperplasia and hypertrophy in O. masou depending upon the time that has elapsed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2011

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of a silicate mineral (D Lite) on growth performance, nutrient retention, carcass characteristics and meat quality in broiler chicks. A total of 640 broiler chicks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design. Each treatment had four replicates comprising 40 broilers in each replicate. Dietary treatments were as follows: control (0% D Lite), and diets supplemented with 0.15%, 0.30% and 0.45% of D Lite. The starter and finisher diets were fed from d 0 to 21 and d 21 to 35, respectively. Body weight gain during starter (p<0.05), finisher (p=0.057) and overall (p<0.001) experimental period and feed intake (p<0.05) during starter period decreased quadratically with increasing dietary D Lite levels. The birds fed 0.15% D Lite showed the greatest (p<0.05) overall weight gain, feed intake and retention of gross energy and calcium. There were no differences (p>0.05) in carcass characteristics, organ weights and breast meat composition. However, as the level of D Lite was increased in the diet there was a linear decrease in the TBARS values of breast meat (p<0.05) at d 12 of storage. These results suggest that D Lite supplementation at the level of 0.15% is shown to be effective in improving performance and nutrient retention in broilers.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.527-539
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• 2010

This study was conducted to determine the effect of probiotics as an alternative for antibiotics on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, noxious gas emission and fecal microbial population in growing piglets. A total of 96 piglets ($22.5{\pm}1.3$kg average body weight) were allotted to 3 different treatment groups and replicated 4 times with 8 piglets per replicate in randomized complete block design. Treatments were T1) (Control, basal diet+0.2% antibiotics), T2) 0.2% probiotics complex and T3) 0.3% Bacillus probiotics. During the whole experiment period, there were no differences (p>0.05) in average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed efficiency. However, digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and crude ash were showed higher in probiotics groups (T2 and T3) than those of control. In noxious gas emission, ammonia, amine, hydrogen sulfide and mercaptan were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in T2 and T3 treatments compared to those in control. Moisture content of feces was not significantly different among treatments. The colony forming units (CFU) of total bacteria, E. coli and thermoduric bacteria in feces were significantly different among treatments. The CFU of total bacteria, E. coli and thermoduric bacteria in T3 treatment were reduced by feeding probiotics B. From this study, we suggest that probiotics A and B are likely able to improve the growth performance and nutrients digestibility, reduce noxious gas emission and change the fecal microbial composition in growing piglets.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate the properties of Menyanthes trifoliata habitat in coastal lagoons. To characterize plant composition in the habitats in the lagoon, the plot sampling method was applied. The depths of water and floating mat were measured. Surface water quality factors including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), and total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured in the sites. Phosphate, nitrate, ammonium, and major cations were measured in laboratory. The wetland has 78 taxa of wetland plants. The average coverage and density of M. trifoliata was 62.6% and $71.2/m^2$, respectively and Phragmites australis is important associate in Sunyoodam lagoon. The average depths of floating mats were 26.5cm in M. trifoliata and 68.9cm in the P. australis-M. trifoliata communities, and the water depth below the mat was 106.5cm and 17.7cm, respectively. The values of pH, DO, EC and TDS in the water were 5.06, 46.1%, 59.4 ${\mu}s/cm$, and 29.3 mg/L, respectively. The concentrations of phosphate, nitrate, and ammonium showed 47.2, 9321, and 15.9 ${\mu}g/L$, respectively. The concentrations of Ca, K, Na, and Mg had 11.1, 1.5, 15.1, and 11.3 mg/L, respectively. The habitats of M. trifoliata in the lagoon corresponds to a kind of lowland communities in Hewett's classification. To conserve the habitats of M. trifoliata in Sunyoodam lagoon, the supply of open water area, the construction of observation deck, and the block of inflow from the surrounding paddy fields are needed in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.304-312
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of total neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and forage-derived NDF (fNDF) on nutrient intake and milk production in Holstein dairy cows. Thirty-six Holstein dairy cows at weeks 4 to 20 of lactation were included in this study. The cows were arranged in a randomized complete block design and assigned to one of six diets: 1) 38% NDF with 18% fNDF (HN-HF); 2) 38% NDF with 15% fNDF (HN-MF); 3) 38% with 12% fNDF (HN-LF); 4) 34% NDF with 18% fNDF (LN-HF); 5) 34% NDF with 15% fNDF (LN-MF); and 6) 34% with 12% fNDF (LN-LF). The cows were fed a total mixed ration twice daily (07:00 and 18:00 h) and given ad libitum access to feed and water throughout the experiment. Data on the intake of nutrients (DM, NEl, CP, NDF, fNDF, NFC), milk yield, composition, fat-corrected milk (FCM), fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM), and energy corrected milk (ECM) were analyzed. Lower dietary concentrations of total NDF or fNDF resulted in an increase in DM, NEl, and NFC intake (p<0.01), milk yield (p<0.05) and a lower milk fat concentration (p<0.01). The LN treatment showed no significant differences in milk fat concentration compared to the HN however, further reduction in fNDF decreased milk fat content (p<0.01). The lowest level of milk fat was observed in the LN-LF diet group. Changes in the dietary concentrations of NDF or fNDF did not affect the concentrations of milk protein or SNF (solid not fat), although the yield of milk protein and SNF increased with higher milk yield (p<0.01). The level of fNDF influenced the level of FCM (p=0.07), as well as FPCM and ECM yield (p<0.05). A highly positive correlation between fNDF intake and milk fat concentration was observed in animals with low NDF compared to those offered high NDF. A strong correlation was also observed between milk yield and low NDF intake compared to high NDF intake.