• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.198-205
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• 2017

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of single or/and double strains of probiotic supplement on feed efficiency, growth performance, and microbial population in distal gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of weaning rabbits. Methods: Sixty-four weaning (28 days old) New Zealand White rabbits were randomly distributed into four groups with treatments including: basal diet without probiotic supplement (control) or supplemented as follows: $1{\times}10^6cfu/g$ B. subtilis (BS group), $1{\times}10^7cfu/g$ L. acidophilus (LA group), or $0.5{\times}10^6cfu/g$ B. subtilis plus $0.5{\times}10^7cfu/g$ L. acidophilus (BL group). During the research, the male and female rabbits were fed separately. Body weight of the rabbits was recorded at 28, 42, and 70 d of age. Results: There was an increase (p<0.05) in body weight gain for the LA group at 42 d. Rabbits fed BL responsed with a greater growth (p<0.05) and better feed conversion ratio (p<0.05) than those fed with no probiotic. Digestibility coefficients of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and gross energy were higher (p<0.05) in LA and BL groups than those in the control group. Male rabbits had higher (p<0.05) Bacilli spp. and Coliformis spp. in the ileum than female rabbits. Rabbits supplemented with BS had greater (p<0.05) numbers of bacilli in all intestinal segments than those receiving no probiotic, whereas intestinal Lactobacilli populations were greater (p<0.001) in the LA and BL diets compared to control. Average intestinal coliform populations were lowest (p<0.05) in the rabbits supplemented with LA as compared to those fed the control and BS. Conclusion: Supplementation of L. acidophilus alone or in combination with B. subtilis at a half of dose could enhance number of gut beneficial bacteria populations, nutrient digestibility, cecal fermentation, feed efficiency, and growth performance, but rabbits receiving only B. subtilis alone were not different from the controls without probiotic.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.524-534
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• 2017

The development and utilization of crop straw biogas resources can effectively alleviate the shortage of energy, environmental pollution, and other issues. This study performed a continuous batch test at $35^{\circ}C$ to assess the methane production potential and volatile organic acid contents using the modified Gompertz equation. Illumina MiSeq platform sequencing, which is a sequencing method based on sequencing-by-synthesis, was used to compare the archaeal community diversity, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to analyze the bacterial community diversity in rice straw, dry maize straw, silage maize straw, and tobacco straw. The results showed that cumulative gas production values for silage maize straw, rice straw, dry maize straw, and tobacco straw were 4,870, 4,032.5, 3,907.5, and $3,628.3ml/g{\cdot}VS$, respectively, after 24 days. Maximum daily gas production values of silage maize straw and rice straw were 1,025 and $904.17ml/g{\cdot}VS$, respectively, followed by tobacco straw and dry maize straw. The methane content of all four kinds of straws was > 60%, particularly that of silage maize straw, which peaked at 67.3%. Biogas production from the four kinds of straw was in the order silage maize straw > rice straw > dry maize straw > tobacco straw, and the values were 1,166.7, 1,048.4, 890, and $637.4ml/g{\cdot}VS$, respectively. The microbial community analysis showed that metabolism was mainly carried out by acetate-utilizing methanogens, and that Methanosarcina was the dominant archaeal genus in the four kinds of straw, and the DGGE bands belonged to the phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi. Silage maize is useful for biogas production because it contains four kinds of straw.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2000

Considerable interest has been shown in recent years towards utilizing $TiO_2$ particles as a photocatalyst in the degradation of harmful organic contaminants. In this study, photocatalytic degradation of diazinon which is extensively used as a pesticide in the agriculture field, has been investigated with UV-illuminated $TiO_2$ weight, UV wavelength, pH of the solution. Photodegradation rate increased with decreasing initial concentration of diazinon and with increasing pH of the solution. Photodegradation rate increased with increasing $TiO_2$ weight, but was nearly the same at $TiO_2$ weight of 1g/$\ell$, 2 g/$\ell$, i.e., for initial diazinon concentratin of 5 mg/$\ell$. UV wavelength affecting on the degradation rate of diazinon decreased in the order of 254 nm>312 nm> 365 nm. For $TiO_2$ weight of 1 g/$\ell$and initial diazinon concentration of 5 mg/$\ell$, the photodegradation removal of diazinon was 100% after 130 min in the case of 254 nm, but 95% in the case of 312 nm, and 84% in the case of 365nm, after 180 min. The photodegradation of diazinon followed a first order or a pseudo - first order reaction rate. For initial diazinon concentration of 5 mg/$\ell$, the rate constants(k) in UV and $TiO_2$(1 g/$\ell$)/UV system were $0.006 min^{-1} and 0.0252 min^{-1} at 254 nm, 0.0055 min^{-1} and 0.0104 min^{-1} at 312 nm, and 0.004 min^{-1}$ at 365 nm respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1593-1598
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• 2003

Nutritional evaluation of some agro-industrial byproducts available in Samoa [dry brewers' grains (DBG), cocoa shell (CS), cocoa dust (CD) and desiccated coconut waste meal (DCWM)] available in Samoa was carried out using both the in vivo and in vitro techniques. In the in vivo study 24 Anglo-nubian goats were offered by-products with other feed ingredients to compound four different diets. The goats were randomly allocated to 4 diets on the basis of liveweight (18.7-0.3kg). The ADF content of the byproducts followed a similar trend to NDF. The byproducts have a high content of organic matter (91.0-95.4%). Gross energy (GE) content was higher in DCWM (25.1 MJ/kg DM), closely followed by CD (23.2 MJ/kg DM). Concentrate intake was significantly different (p<0.05) among the goats. Average daily live weight gains were 105, 92, 88 and 97 g/goat/day for DBG, CS, CD and DCWM, respectively. Daily live weight gains were higher (p<0.05) in the goats that received DBG, while the least gain was obtained in the goats that received CS byproduct diet. DM digestibility was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the goats on DBG diet than in the other goats. The least DM digestibility was obtained in the goats that received CD diet (p>0.05). CP digestibility followed a similar pattern to DM digestibility. The digestibility of NDF and ADF was influenced by the nature of the diets. The digestibility of OM and GE were best (p<0.05) in the goats that received DBG, DCWM and CS byproduct diets than in CD. Significant differences (p<0.05) among the byproducts were recorded for net gas production. Potential gas production (a+b) ranged from 7.064 to 42.17 ml. Organic matter digested (OMD) from gas production value at 24 h was higher in DBG (47.6 g/kg DM) and this was followed by DCWM (42.5 g/kg DM). The least OMD was obtained in CD (17.9 g/kg DM). A significant difference (p<0.05) in DM disappearance after 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h was recorded. The potential and effective degradability varied significantly (p<0.05) from 85.95-99.6 g/kg DM and from 39.9-65.8%, respectively. The digestibility of the byproducts in both the in vivo and in in vitro techniques demonstrated that they are potential source of feed ingredients for ruminant livestock in Samoa and possibly in the other small Pacific Island countries. On the basis of their potential degradability the byproducts could be ranked in the following order:DCWM>DBG>CD>CS. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that all the byproducts can contribute to ruminant livestock diets without adverse effects on feed intake, growth rate and apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.903-915
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• 2011

Recently, anaerobic methane production of agricultural waste biomass has received increasing attention. Until now domestic BMP (Biochemical methane potential) studies concerned with agricultural waste biomass have concentrated on the several waste biomass such as livestock manure, food waste, and sewage sludge from WWTP (Waste water treatment plant). Especially, the lack of standardization study of BMP assay method has caused the confused comprehension and interpretation in the comparison of BMP results from various researchers. Germany and USA had established the standard methods, VDI 4630 and ASTM E2170-01, for the analysis of BMP and anaerobic organic degradation, respectively. In this review, BMP was defined in the aspect of organic material represented as COD (Chemical oxygen demand) and VS (Volatile solid), and the influence of several parameters on the methane potential of the feedstock was presented. In the investigation of domestic BMP case studies, BMP results of 18 biomass species generating from agriculture and agro-industry were presented. And BMP results of crop species reported from foreign case studies were presented according to the classification system of crops such as food crop, vegetables, oil seed and specialty crop, orchards, and fodder and energy crop. This review emphasizes the urgent need for characterizing the innumerable kind of biomass by their capability on methane production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.540-547
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• 2001

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of environmentally friendly agents (yucca extract, mineral feed additive, acidifier, nonspecific immunostimulating anionic alkali solution) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, nutrient excretion and carcass characteristics in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 125 pigs were allotted into 5 treatments with 5 replications, 5 pigs per pen in a completely randomized block design. Dietary treatments consisted of 1) control: basal diet, 2) YE: basal diet+120 mg/kg of yucca extract, 3) MFA: basal diet+50 mg/kg of mineral feed additive, 4) NIS: basal diet+3% of NIS (nonspecific immunostimulating anionic alkali solution), and 5) Acidifier: basal diet+0.5% of acidifier (organic acid complex). During the growing phase of the feeding trial, There were no significant differences in average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (F/G) among treatments, but the Acidifier group showed higher average daily gain (ADG) than the MFA group (p<0.05). During the finishing phase, there were no significant differences in growth performance among treatments, however YE supplementation increased ADG and F/G by 3.1 and 6.15%, respectively, when compared to control group. Proximate nutrients (dry matter, DM; crude protein, CP; crude ash, CA; crude fat, CF; gross energy, GE; calcium, Ca and phosphorus, P) digestibility did not show any significant differences among the treatments. And there were no significant differences in DM, N and P excretion as well. The supplementation of environmentally friendly agents tended to increase carcass weight compared to control group. Pigs fed MFA showed significantly heavier (p<0.05) carcass weight than those fed control or Acidifier diets. Addition of these agents except for NIS to diet for growing-finishing pigs caused a similar feed cost/kg weight gain than control group. Therefore, present study suggested that the optimum environmentally friendly agent would be yucca extracts, considering the effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, nutrient excretion, carcass characteristics and feed cost in growing-finishing pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1705-1711
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• 2001

Silage corn (Zea mays L) is grown extensively in livestock operations, and many managements focus on forage yield. This experiment was conducted at Seoul National University (SNU) Experimental Livestock Farm, Suwon in 1998. We determined the effect of planting date and harvest stage on forage yield and quality responses of corn hybrids (five relative maturity groups). The five maturity groups (100 d, 106 d, 111 d, 119 d and 125 d) were planted on 15 April and 15 May, and harvested at maturity stages (1/3, 1/2 and 2/3 kernel milkline). Whole plant dry matter (DM) and ear percentages had significant differences among corn hybrids. Ear percentages of early maturing corns (100 d and 106 d) were higher than for other hybrids. Ear percentage at the early planting date was higher than that at the late planting date for all corn hybrids. The DM and total digestible nutrients (TDN) yields of the 106 d and 111 d corn hybrids were higher than other hybrids, and the DM and TDN yields at the early planting date were higher than that at the late planting date. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) percentages were greater for the late maturity corn hybrids. For plants of the early planting date, the ADF and NDF percentages were lower than for those of late planting date for hybrids. From the comparison among harvest stages, ADF and NDF percentages were decreased as harvest stage progressed. The TDN, net energy for lactation (NEL), and cellulase digestible organic matter of dry matter (CDOMD) were decreased as maturity of corn hybrid delayed. The TDN, NEL, and CDOMD values at the early planting date were higher than those at the late planting date among for corn hybrids. From the comparison among harvest dates, TDN, NEL, and CDOMD values were increased as harvest stage progressed. The correlation coefficient for DM percentage of grain at harvest with DM and TDN yields were 0.68*** and 0.76***, respectively. And the correlation coefficient for ear percentage with ADF, NDF, and CDOMD were -0.81***, -0.82*** and 0.73***, respectively. Our study showed differences of silage corn in forage production and quality resulting from hybrid maturity, planting date, and harvest stage. We believe that for the best silage corn, selection of the hybrid and best management practices are very important.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.366-375
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• 2018

Evapotranspiration (ET) information is needed for many applications in agricultural and environmental resource management because crop yields, plant growth and physiological characteristics are primarily water limited. This study was conducted to evaluate the diurnal change of ET using electronic weighing lysimeter and to determine whether the ET of Cnidium officinale Makino could be manipulated through meteorological factors such as solar radiation, windy conditions and air temperature etc., Pot has a diameter of 35 cm and an height of 38 cm. A disturbed soil of sandy loam (coarse, mixed, mesic family of Dystric Fluventic Eutroudepts) within lysimeter has a mass of approximately 40.0 kg. In 2017, 10-minute recordings of data were used for measuring actual ET, and also evaluating a relationship between ET and meteorological factors during from 2 Aug. to 6 Aug. The maximum daily ET of Cnidium officinale was $44.04{\pm}3.949g$ per hour in lysimetric measurements. Diurnal changes of ET was highly correlated with solar radiation ($r^2=0.7778$) and followed by wind speed ($r^2=0.6400$). But on the other hand, air temperature was not consistent with ET ($r^2=0.2260$). This results imply that ET of Cnidium officinaele seems to be mainly governed by radiation energy in clear days, and approximately 40% of solar radiation is likely to be converted into ET. Therefore, weighing lysimeter can be used to accurately estimate actual ET and is expected to attract a great deal of attention to reliable application of water management in agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.164-168
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• 1999

For investigating transfer factors of $^{137}Cs$ in the arable land of Korea, mature crop plants and topsoils were collected from paddy and upland fields located at 33 areas of the country and $^{137}Cs$ concentrations were measured by ${\gamma}-spectrometry$. The $^{137}Cs$ concentrations in soil were in the range of $0.7{\sim}17.7$ Bq/kg-dry in the paddy fields and $1.2{\sim}27.8$ Bq/kg-dry in the upland fields. The $^{137}Cs$concentrations in hulled seed, detected for 12 areas only, were in the range of $0.019{\sim}0.111$ Bq/kg-dry and those in Chinese cabbage, detected also for 12 areas only, were in the range of $0.012{\sim}0.066$ Bq/kg-fresh. Soil-to-plant transfer factors of $^{137}Cs$ were in the range of $1.2{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}1.1{\times}10^{-2}$ for hulled seed and $6.8{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}1.7{\times}10^{-2}$ for Chinese cabbage. Inboth plant stuffs, the factor tended to decrease with increasing soil organic matter or cation exchange capacity and, in hulled seed, it tended to increase with increasing soil clay content. No statistical significance was, however, found in all those relationships. Present results can be utilized for estimating radiation risk resulting from the food consumption by Korean people and deciding agronomical counter-measures at the time of an nuclear accident.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 1986

Because of the drastic development of nuclear industries, the contamination of natural environments by the disposal of radioactive materials which are released from nuclear facilities have aroused a considerable concern in relation to agricultural practices. Therefore the present investigation, through pot experiment, was performed to find out the aspect of the uptake of $Sr^{90}$ by rice plants and its distribution in them in five different types(physicochemical and minerallogical properties) of paddy soils. The results obtained were as follows; 1) Visual toxic symptoms on the growth of rice plant due to treatment of $Sr^{90}$ up to $40{\mu}Ci/10㎏$ in a pot were not observed even though uptake of $Sr^{90}$ by rice plant was proportionally increased with the $Sr^{90}$ treatment. 2) Distribution of $Sr^{90}$ in the rice plant was the highest in the leaves (84.5%) followed in the order by stems (13.5%) and rough grain (2.0%). The ratio of $Sr^{90}$ to Ca was higher in the leaves (872) and stems (667) than in the rice grain (89). 3) $Sr^{90}$ absorption in the rice plant ranged $0.15{\sim}0.30%$ at harvesting time. Uptake of $Sr^{90}$ by rice plants decreased by the increase of soil pH and exchangeable canons in the soils, but $Sr^{90}$ uptake increased when nitrogen, organic matter and clay content in soil was high, and uptake of this nuclide in the rice plant was higher with low Illite and Vermiculite content in the soils.