• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.9
• /
• pp.1254-1260
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study firstly was conducted to establish a radioimmunoassay (RIA) of estrone sulfate ($E_1S$), secondly to monitor the reproductive status of dairy cows using their urine samples. Urine and blood samples were collected in series within a day from four pregnant Holstein-friesian cows to evaluate the relationship between $E_1S$ levels in blood and urine with or without urinary creatinine basis. The urine was then collected biweekly from three cows in estrous and those artificially inseminated; collection from pregnant cows was made on a monthly basis. Results indicated that sensitivity for the $E_1S$ RIA was 5 pg/tube and the recovery rate was 100%. The daily urinary creatinine concentrations fluctuated within a day, but changes were slighter in midday, whereas the changes of concentrations of $E_1S$ in urine were relatively smaller. The concentrations of serum $E_1S$ during the estrous cycle were undetectable due to the limitation of assay, but the urinary $E_1S$ level could be measured with no obvious changes during the cycle. The urinary $E_1S$ levels increased remarkably around 7.7 to 8.3 ng/ml, 80 to 100 days after pregnancy but the serum $E_1S$ levels did not elevate until 120 to 150 days. The level of $E_1S$ increased gradually during pregnancy and eventually reached its peak before parturition at around 40 ng/ml and finally decreased to its basal level 2 days postparturition. During pregnancy, $E_1S$ concentrations of urine increased earlier than those in blood. The correlation coefficients between urinary and serum $E_1S$ concentration during pregnancy and postparturm were higher than those adjusted with creatinine (creatinine ratio). The concentrations of $E_1S$ in urine could be maintained unchanged for 8 days storing the samples in room temperature, which was extended to 8 days when the samples were pretreated by boiling for 30 minutes or treated with autoclave. In conclusion urinary $E_1S$ concentrations can be used directly for monitoring the pregnant status and fetal viability of dairy cows and can assist accurate confirmation of pregnancy in cows at least 80 to 100 days after insemination much earlier than by serum $E_1S$.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.14 no.9
• /
• pp.1290-1298
• /
• 2001

A total of 371 weaned pigs were used in three experiments to evaluate the effects of spray dried plasma (SDP), soybean protein sources, and lactose on growth performance. In Exp. 1, 128 pigs (5.99 kg, $18{\pm}2d$) were used to evaluate the effect of SDP (0 vs 7%), lactose (0 vs 30%), and two soybean protein sources [soybean meal (SBM) and extruded soybean protein concentrate (ESPC)] in phase I (d 0 to 14) diets on pig performance in a $2{\times}2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement. Spray-dried plasma increased phase I ADG (p<0.01) and ADFI (p<0.05) in the SBM diets, but not in the ESPC diets. Lactose improved ADG and gain/feed ratio (G/F) in phase I (p<0.01). In Exp. 2, 144 pigs (5.50 kg, $17{\pm}3d$) were used to evaluate the effect of SDP (0 vs. 3.5%) and three soybean protein sources [SBM, ESPC, and soybean protein concentrate (SPC)] in phase I diets, and the effects of two different phase II (d 14 to 28) diets (simple vs complex) in a $2{\times}3{\times}2$ factorial arrangement of treatments. In phase I, SDP increased ADG (p<0.01) and improved G/F (p<0.05). Pigs fed SBM had the highest ADG and ADFI, with a G/F similar to the pigs fed ESPC. In phase II, pigs fed the complex diet had improved ADG (p<0.01), ADFI (p<0.05), and G/F (p<0.05) compared to the simple diet. In Exp. 3, 99 weaned pigs (5.77 kg, $17{\pm}3$d) were used to evaluate the effect of SBM, ESPC, and ESPC with SDP in the phase I diets. Pigs fed SBM with no blood product in the diet had the lowest ADG (p<0.01), ADFI (p<0.01), and G/F (p<0.05) in the first week of phase I. There were no differences in soybean protein sources fed in phase I diets on overall pig performance. These experiments are indicated that SDP and lactose improve the phase I performance. Soybean meal can be used as the major protein source in phase I diets with SDP.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.779-783
• /
• 2006

The adiponectin gene is known to be involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis involving food intake, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Human adiponectin gene polymorphisms have been recently reported to be associated with obesity, insulin sensitivity and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The present study was carried out to investigate the porcine adiponectin gene as a candidate gene for fat deposition and carcass traits. A mutation of A178G of the porcine adiponectin gene that resulted in substitution of the amino acid Isoleucine to Valine was identified. AcyI PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism of the genotypes in five different pig populations (Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Chinese breeds Meishan and Qingping). The A allele frequency was significantly higher among subjects from Chinsese lard type breeds, while the G allele was the only one present in those from Western lean type breeds. To determine if there was an association of the polymorphism with phenotypic variation, the mutation was tested in 267 pigs of the "Large $White{\times}Meishan$" F2 resource population. The results of association analyses showed significant associations of the genotypes with fat deposition and carcass traits. Allele G was significantly associated with increase in loin eye height, loin eye area and lean meat percentage and bone percentage, and decrease in fat mean percentage, ratio of lean to fat, shoulder fat thickness, 6-7 rib fat thickness, thorax-waist fat thickness and buttock fat thickness. The substitution of A178G (Ile60Val) happened to be located at amino acid 60 in the collagenous domain of porcine adiponectin which might affect the association into higher-order structures, and accordingly affect the posttranslational modifications and optimal biological activity of the multimeric forms. The identified functional polymorphism provides new evidence of adiponectin as an important candidate gene affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.2109-2114
• /
• 2012

Background: Ethnic variation in tumor characteristics and clinical presentation of breast cancer is increasingly being emphasized. We studied the tumor characteristics and factors which may influence the presentation and prognosis of triple negative breast cancers (TNC) in a cohort of Chinese women. Methods: A prospective cohort of 1800 Chinese women with breast cancer was recruited in a tertiary referral unit in Hong Kong between 1995 and 2006 and was followed up with a median duration of 7.2 years. Of the total, 216 (12.0%) had TNC and 1584 (88.0%) had non-TNC. Their clinicopathological variables, epidemiological variables and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Results: Patients with TNC had similar age of presentation as those with non-TNC, while presenting at earlier stages (82.4% were stage 1-2, compared to 78.4% in non-TNC, p=0.035). They were likely to be associated with grade 3 cancer (Hazard Ratio(HR)=5.8, p<0.001). TNC showed higher chance of visceral relapse (HR=2.69, p<0.001), liver metastasis (HR=1.7, p=0.003) and brain metastasis (HR=1.8, p=0.003). Compared with non-TNC group, TNC had similar 10-year disease-free survival (82% vs 84%, p=0.148), overall survival (78% vs 79%, p=0.238) and breast cancer-specific mortality (18% vs 16%, p=0.095). However, TNC showed poorer 10-year stage 3 and 4 specific survival (stage 3: 53% vs. 67%, p=0.010; stage 4: 0% vs. 40%, p=0.035). Conclusions: Chinese women with triple negative breast cancer do not have less aggressive biological behavior compared to the West and presentation at a later stage results in worse prognosis compared with those with non triple negative breast cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.344-344
• /
• 2014

Transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors such as a In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) have advantages for large area electronic devices; e.g., uniform deposition at a large area, optical transparency, a smooth surface, and large electron mobility >10 cm2/Vs, which is more than an order of magnitude larger than that of hydrogen amorphous silicon (a-Si;H).1) Thin film transistors (TFTs) that employ amorphous oxide semiconductors such as ZnO, In-Ga-Zn-O, or Hf-In-Zn-O (HIZO) are currently subject of intensive study owing to their high potential for application in flat panel displays. The device fabrication process involves a series of thin film deposition and photolithographic patterning steps. In order to minimize contamination, the substrates usually undergo a cleaning procedure using deionized water, before and after the growth of thin films by sputtering methods. The devices structure were fabricated top-contact gate TFTs using the a-IGZO films on the plastic substrates. The channel width and length were 80 and 20 um, respectively. The source and drain electrode regions were defined by photolithography and wet etching process. The electrodes consisting of Ti(15 nm)/Al(120 nm)/Ti(15nm) trilayers were deposited by direct current sputtering. The 30 nm thickness active IGZO layer deposited by rf magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The deposition condition is as follows: a rf power 200 W, a pressure of 5 mtorr, 10% of oxygen [O2/(O2+Ar)=0.1], and room temperature. A 9-nm-thick Al2O3 layer was formed as a first, third gate insulator by ALD deposition. A 290-nm-thick SS6908 organic dielectrics formed as second gate insulator by spin-coating. The schematic structure of the IGZO TFT is top gate contact geometry device structure for typical TFTs fabricated in this study. Drain current (IDS) versus drain-source voltage (VDS) output characteristics curve of a IGZO TFTs fabricated using the 3-layer gate insulator on a plastic substrate and log(IDS)-gate voltage (VG) characteristics for typical IGZO TFTs. The TFTs device has a channel width (W) of $80{\mu}m$ and a channel length (L) of $20{\mu}m$. The IDS-VDS curves showed well-defined transistor characteristics with saturation effects at VG>-10 V and VDS>-20 V for the inkjet printing IGZO device. The carrier charge mobility was determined to be 15.18 cm^2 V-1s-1 with FET threshold voltage of -3 V and on/off current ratio 10^9.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.536-544
• /
• 2016

Recently, with the increase in the number of high rise and huge scaled buildings, ultra-high strength concrete with 80~100 MPa has been used increasingly to withstand excessive loads. Among the components of concrete, the effects of the kinds and properties of fine aggregates on the performance and economic advantages of ultra-high strength concrete need to be evaluated carefully. Therefore, this study examined the effects of the type of fine aggregates and mixing methods on the engineering properties of ultra-high strength concrete by varying the fine aggregates including limestone fine aggregate (LFA), electrical arc slag fine aggregate (EFA), washed sea sand (SFA), and granite fine aggregate (GFA) and their mixtures. Ultra-high strength concrete was fabricated with a 20 % water to binder ratio (W/B) and incorporated with 70 % of Ordinary Portland cement: 20 % of fly ash:10 % silica fume. The test results indicate that for a given superplasticizer dose, the use of LFA resulted in increases in slump flow and L-flow compared to the mixtures using other aggregates due to the improved particle shape and grading of LFA. In addition, the use of LFA and EFA led to enhanced compressive strength and a decrease in autogenous shrinkage due to the improved elastic properties of LFA and the presence of free-CaO in EFA, which resulted in the formation of C-S-H.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.24.1-24.6
• /
• 2016

We determined the optimum dietary protein level in juvenile barred knifejaw Oplegnathus fasciatus in cages. Five semi-purified isocaloric diets were formulated with white fish meal and casein-based diets to contain 35, 40, 45, 50, and 60 % crude protein (CP). Fish with an initial body weight of $7.1{\pm}0.06g$ ($mean{\pm}SD$) were randomly distributed into 15 net cages (each size: $60cm{\times}40cm{\times}90cm$, $W{\times}L{\times}H$) as groups of 20 fish in triplicates. The fish were fed at apparent satiation level twice a day. After 8 weeks of feeding, the weight gain (WG) of fish fed 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets were significantly higher than those of fish fed 35 and 40 % CP diets. However, there were no significant differences in WG among fish fed 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets. Generally, feed efficiency (FE) and specific growth rate (SGR) showed a similar trend as WG. However, the protein efficiency ratio (PER) was inversely related to dietary protein levels. Energy retention efficiency increased with the increase of dietary protein levels by protein sparing from non-protein energy sources. Blood hematocrit content was not affected by dietary protein levels. However, a significantly lower amount of hemoglobin was found in fish fed 35 % CP than in fish fed 40, 45, 50, and 60 % CP diets. Fish fed 60 % CP showed the lowest survival rate than the fish fed 35, 40, 45, and 50 % CP diets. Broken-line analysis of WG showed the optimum dietary protein level was 45.2 % with 18.8 kJ/g diet for juvenile barred knifejaw. This study has potential implication for the successful cage culture of barred knifejaw.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.222-237
• /
• 2002

Effects of high and low levels of feeding with or without protected protein on the performance of lactating goats were studied. Twenty four German Fawn goats either from 1st ($43.37{\pm}3.937$ kg and 2 year old) or 3rd $62.64{\pm}6.783$ kg and 4-5 year old) parity were used for the trial. Feeding levels were 7.2 (I) and 5.2 (II) MJ ME/litre of milk of 3.5% fat in addition to that of the maintenance allowance. At each feeding level, diet had either unprotected (U) or formaldehyde protected (P) soya-meal. Thus, four diets were IU, IP, IIU and IIP, having six animals in each. The diets were composed of hay and pellet (10:4:1 of beet pulp : barley : soya-meal). Effect of feeding level, protein protection, parity, health status and kid number on intake, milk yield, milk composition, growth rate of goats were recorded across the 21 weeks of study. High feeding level resulted increase (p<0.001) in estimated metabolizable energy (ME) and metabolizable protein (MP) availability. Dietary inclusion of protected soya-meal increased (p<0.001) the estimated MP but not the ME availability. Animals in 1st parity ate more (p<0.001) DM (111 vs. 102 g/kg $W^{0.75}$/d) than those in 3rd parity. Animals with twin kids (110 g/kg $W^{0.75}$/d) had higher (p<0.001) DM intake than those with single kid (102 g/kg $W^{0.75}$/d). Fat (4%) corrected milk (FCM) yield was not effected by high (1,924 g/d) or low (1,927 g/d) feeding level but increased (p<0.001) with protected (2,166 g/d) compared with unprotected (1,703 g/d) soya-meal. FCM yield for four dietary combinations were 1,806, 2,078, 1,600 and 2,254 g/d for diets IU, IP, IIU and IIP, respectively. For unit increase (g) in estimated MP availability relative to ME (MJ) intake, FCM yield increased ($1,418{\pm}275.6$) g daily ($r^2$=0.58; p<0.001). Milk fat (3.14 vs. 3.54%; p<0.001) and protein (2.94 vs. 3.04% p<0.05) contents were lower at high than the low feeding level. Protected protein increased (p<0.001) the fat, lactose and net energy (NE) content of milk. Milk urea concentration of 175, 183, 192 and 204 mg/l for diets IU, IP, IIU and IIP, respectively indicated lower RDP content of these diets. The RDP contents were 6.97, 6.70, 7.30 and 6.83 g/MJ of ME for diets IU, IP, IIU and IIP, respectively. Live weight change over the experimental period were 41, 6, 17 and 19 g/d. Absence of any positive response of high feeding was probably due to inefficient rumen fermentation resulting from inadequate RDP supply. Protected protein improved production performance apparently by increasing MP:ME ratio in the absorbed nutrient.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.60 no.4
• /
• pp.9.1-9.11
• /
• 2018

Background: In recent years, with the prohibition of antibiotics used as growth stimulants in the nutrition of farm animals, researchers have searched for alternative natural and reliable products in order to be able to sustain the developments experienced during the use of antibiotics and to overcome the possible inconveniences. In this context, studies on evaluation of essential oils in poultry nutrition have been reported to improve the utilization of feed, stimulate the release of digestive enzymes, increase absorption in the stomach and intestines, antimicrobial and anti-parasitic effects and thus, can be an alternative to antibiotics and improve meat quality as well. Indeed, this study has been carried out to explore the effects of the addition of 150 mg/kg capsicum oleoresin (CAP), carvacrol (CAR), cinnamaldehyde (CIN) or their mixture (CAP+CAR+CIN) into the broilers' ration over sensory, physical and chemical properties in breast meat and leg meat. Methods: Experiments were conducted over 400 male and female broiler chicks (Ross-308) in 5 groups (1 control group and 4 treatment groups), each composed of 80 chicks. The control group was fed without feed additives while the second, third, fourth and the fifth groups were fed with 150 mg CAP/kg feed, 150 mg CAR/kg feed, 150 mg CIN/kg feed, and 150 mg CAP+CAR+CIN/kg feed, respectively. Results: Addition of CAP, CAR, CIN or CAP+CAR+CIN had effects on the sensory (of taste, tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability); physical properties (of $L^*$ value and toughness), the chemical properties (of DM, CF, CP, linoleic, EPA, behenic, MUFA, PUFA and ${\Sigma}n-6$ of the leg meat), the physical characteristics (of toughness and firmness), and the chemical properties (of CF, CP, linoleic, ecosenic, EPA, lignoseric, MUFA and ${\Sigma}n-3$) of the breast meat in comparison to control group. Furthermore, while the treatments had positive impacts on thawing loss, cooking loss and water holding capacity in both breast and leg meat; no effect was observed on pH value and lipid oxidation on day 1, day 4 and day 8. Conclusion: The results strongly suggested that the addition of CAP, CAR, CIN or CAP+CAR+CIN to the rations of the broiler chicks changed the sensory, physical and chemical properties of breast and leg meat. It was also observed that these compounds were more effective when they were added to the ratio as a mixture rather than adding them individually.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.231-241
• /
• 2012

Farming using natural salts for supply of nutrients to crops is increasing recently. It is necessary to evaluate the salt accumulation in soil and the effects on crop growth by treatment of natural salt. This study was conducted at the organic cultivation fields which garlics were planted. The treatments were no natural salts (control) and plots applied 100~600 $kg\;ha^{-1}$ with natural salts. Soil samples were taken from the 0 to 25 cm depth at 12 and 107 day (harvest time) after natural salts application. The results showed that electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable Na (Exch.$-Na^+$) and Cl- were increased by application of natural salts. But, pH and exchangeable cations ($K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$) had not significantly differences among treatments. In 300 $kg\;ha^{-1}$ plots of natural salt, the level of EC, Exch.$-Na^+$ and $Cl^-$ in top soil (0-5 cm) was were increased more 0.3, 3.7, and 12.7 times than control plot, respectively. EC, Exch.$-Na^+$, and $Cl^-$ were highest in the top 5 cm of soil and decreased with depth at 12 days after natural salts application, but were decreased in the plower layer (0-15cm) at the harvest time because they were leached with natural rain. An increasing the application level of natural salt resulted in increasing of sodium adsorption ratio, exchangeable sodium percentage, and percentage of soil dispersion. The concentration of nutrient uptake such as total nitrogen (T-N), chloride (Cl) in garlic had significant difference between control and plots applied with natural salts The content of T-N of garlic in plots with natural salt application was lower than control plot, but Cl is higher than control plot.