• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.886-894
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• 2012

Well-designed housing systems are important from the viewpoint of animal welfare and improvement of meat production. In this study, we investigated the effects of outdoor housing of pigs on their behavior, cortisol levels, and meat characteristics. Two groups that were born and raised in a spacious outdoor pen ($4{\times}10$ m for every two sows) or a minimum-sized standard pen in a piggery ($1.9{\times}2.2$ m for every sow) were studied. When their behaviors at the age of 2 to 3 wk were observed, the number of rooting episodes tended to be larger (p = 0.0509) and the total time of rooting tended to be longer (p = 0.0640) in the outdoor-housed piglets although the difference was not significant. Basal salivary cortisol levels of the outdoor piglets at the age of 4 wk were significantly lower than those of the indoor piglets ($5.0{\pm}0.59$ ng/ml vs. $11.6{\pm}0.91$ ng/ml, 30 min after treatment), although their plasma cortisol levels were similar ($53.3{\pm}3.54$ ng/ml vs. $59.9{\pm}4.84$ ng/ml, 30 min after treatment). When the ears were pierced at weaning, plasma and salivary cortisol levels were increased in both groups, even at 15 min after piercing. However, the increase in the outdoor-housed group was significantly less than that in the indoor-housed group. Throughout their lives, body weight and daily gain of the pigs were not significantly different between the two groups. In a meat taste preference test taken by 20 panelists, saltiness, flavor, and color of the outdoor-housed pork were found to be more acceptable. Moreover, when an electronic taste-sensing device was utilized, the C00 and CPA-C00 outputs ($3.78{\pm}0.07$ and $-0.20{\pm}0.023$), which correspond to compounds of bitterness and smells, respectively, were significantly lower in the outdoor-housed pork ($5.03{\pm}0.16$ and $-0.13{\pm}0.009$). Our results demonstrate that the outdoor housing system for piglets induces natural behaviors such as rooting and suppresses the strongest stress reaction of piglets, which could be important for animal welfare. Moreover, the outdoor housing system might change muscle characteristics and improve pork bitterness, flavor, and color. These changes may be preferred by consumers, increasing the sale of these meats.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 2012

NOx is one of the toxin gases, which is mainly causing the optic-chemical smog phenomena, and decreasing in the function of nose and taste. Especially, NO is easily reacting with $O_3$, and then becoming the $NO_2$. $NO_2$ is mainly causing the acidulation rain. So, we should develop the NOx gas sensing system to detect NOx gas. In this paper, we present the microstructure and the NOx gas detecting properties of the nitrocellulose/MWCNT thin film coated by the air-spray on the glass substrate. The nitrocellulose/MWCNT-based gas sensors have been studied detecting NOx molecules of a ppm-level at the temperature range of $30{\sim}120^{\circ}C$. The resistance of the sensors decreases when the sensors are exposed to NOx gas. As a results, we obtained the nitrocellulose/MWCNT sensors with the sensitivity of 0.6%/sec under the 0.8 ppm of NOx gas concetration. Also, we get the activation energy of 0.202eV from the sensor for the 0.3 ppm of NOx gas concentration.