• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2011

A feeding trial was conducted to study the replacement value of concentrates with Barhar (Artocarpus lakocha) leaves on growth performance of kids fed a mixed jungle grass-based diet. Fifteen Sikkim local kids, about 4 months of age and body weight ranging from 5.8 to 9.2 kg, were randomly distributed into three groups of five. Kids were stall fed ad lib with mixed jungle grass collected from the nearby forest and native scrubland. The kids in group I received supplementary concentrate (Maize 35%, mustard cake 32%, rice bran 30%, mineral mixture 2% and common salt 1%) at approximately 2% of BW. For groups II and III, 25 and 50% of the concentrate was replaced with Barhar (Artocarpus lakocha) leaves, respectively. Total dry matter intake (DMI) was not significantly different among groups. Digestibility of CP decreased (p<0.05) and that of NDF increased (p<0.01) with increasing level of Barhar leaves in the diet. Digestibility of ADF (p<0.01), hemi cellulose (p<0.05) and cellulose (p<0.01) was higher in groups II and III than in group I. Ruminal pH and TVFA concentration were not significantly different among groups. Rumen ammonia-N concentration decreased (p<0.01) with increased level of Barhar leaves in the diet. Similarly, plasma urea nitrogen and blood glucose levels were reduced (p<0.05) with increasing level of Barhar leaves in the diet. Replacement of concentrate with Barhar resulted in reduced Hb and lower serum iron concentration. Levels of other serum metabolites including minerals were not altered by the replacement. Average daily gain (ADG) was 53.3, 54.4 and 41.8 g/d in groups I, II and III, respectively. ADG was not adversely affected when the level of replacement was restricted to 25%. However, at 50% of replacement ADG was significantly lower than the control (p<0.05). Thus, it was concluded that Barhar leaves might replace 25% of the supplemental concentrate for growing Sikkim local kids fed on a mixed jungle grass-based diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.587-592
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• 2006

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation with bacillus-based probiotic (Bacillus subtilis, $1.0{\times}10^7CFU/g$; Bacillus coagulans, $2.0{\times}10^6CFU/g$ and Lactobacillus acidophilus, $5.0{\times}10^6CFU/g$) on finishing pigs growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood characteristics and fecal noxious gas content and to determine the optimal addition level of this probiotic preparation. A total of forty eight pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of $90.60{\pm}2.94kg$ were allotted to three dietary treatments (four pigs per pen with four pens per treatment) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatment included: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) BP1 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.1%) and 3) BP2 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.2%). The experiment lasted 6 weeks. Through the entire experimental period, ADG was improved by 11% (p<0.05) in pigs fed diets supplemented with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic compared to pigs fed the basal diet. ADFI and gain/feed were not affected by the treatments (p>0.05). Supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic did not affect either DM and N digestibilities or blood characteristics (p>0.05) of pigs. Fecal ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3$-N) measured at the end of experiment was reduced (p<0.05) when pigs were fed the diet with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic. Fecal butyric acid concentration also decreased significantly (p<0.05) whereas acetic acid and propionic acid concentrations were not affected (p>0.05) when pigs were fed diets with added bacillus-based probiotic. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic can increase growth performance and decrease fecal noxious gas content concentration.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.935-944
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• 2013

Essential oils have been shown to favorably effect in vitro ruminal fermentation, but there are few in vivo studies that have examined animal responses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of thyme (THY) and cinnamon (CIN) essential oils on feed intake, growth performance, ruminal fermentation and blood metabolites in feedlot calves fed high-concentrate diets. Twelve growing Holstein calves ($213{\pm}17kg$ initial BW) were used in a completely randomized design and received their respective dietary treatments for 45 d. Treatments were: 1-control (no additive), 2-THY (5 g/d/calf) and 3-CIN (5 g/d/calf). Calves were fed ad libitum diets consisting of 15% forage and 85% concentrate, and adapted to the finishing diet by gradually increasing the concentrate ratio with feeding a series of transition diets 5 wk before the experiment started. Supplementation of THY or CIN did not affect DMI and ADG, and feed efficiency was similar between treatment groups. There were no effects of additives on ruminal pH and rumen concentrations of ammonia nitrogen and total VFA; whereas molar proportion of acetate and ratio of acetate to propionate decreased, and the molar proportion of propionate increased with THY and CIN supplementation. Rumen molar concentration of butyrate was significantly increased by adding CIN compared to control; but no change was observed with THY compared with control group. No effects of THY, or CIN were observed on valerate, isobutyrate or isovalerate proportions. Plasma concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, urea-N, ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyrate, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were not changed by feeding THY or CIN. Results from this study suggest that supplementing a feedlot finishing diet with THY or CIN essential oil might be useful as ruminal fermentation modifiers in beef production systems, but has minor impacts on blood metabolites.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.261-279
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• 2017

Spectroscopic investigation of Si quantum dots (Si-QDs) embedded in silicon nitride was performed over a broad stoichiometry range to optimize light emission. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was used to grow the $SiN_x$ films on Si (001) substrates. The film composition was controlled via the flow ratio of silane ($SiH_4$) and ammonia ($NH_3$) in the range of R = 0.45-1.0 allowed to vary the Si excess in the range of 21-62 at.%. The films were submitted to annealing at $1100^{\circ}C$ for 30 min in nitrogen to form the Si-QDs. The properties of as-deposited and annealed films were investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) methods. Si-QDs were detected in $SiN_x$ films demonstrating the increase of sizes with Si excess. The residual amorphous Si clusters were found to be present in the films grown with Si excess higher than 50 at.%. Multi-component PL spectra at 300 K in the range of 1.5-3.5 eV were detected and nonmonotonous varying total PL peak versus Si excess was revealed. To identify the different PL components, the temperature dependence of PL spectra was investigated in the range of 20-300 K. The analysis allowed concluding that the "blue-orange" emission is due to the radiative defects in a $SiN_x$ matrix, whereas the "red" and "infrared" PL bands are caused by the exciton recombination in crystalline Si-QDs and amorphous Si clusters. The nature of radiative and no radiative defects in $SiN_x$ films is discussed. The ways to control the dominant PL emission mechanisms are proposed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.1168-1176
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• 2004

Intensive animal industries create large volumes of nutrient rich effluent, which, if untreated, has the potential for substantial environmental degradation. Aquatic plants in aerobic lagoon systems have the potential to achieve inexpensive and efficient remediation of effluent, and to recover valuable nutrients that would otherwise be lost. Members of the family Lemnaceae (duckweeds) are widely used in lagoon systems, but despite their widespread use in the cleansing of sewage, only limited research has been conducted into their growth in highly eutrophic media, and little has been done to systematically distinguish between different types of media. This study examined the growth characteristics of duckweed in abattoir effluent, and explored possible ways of ameliorating the inhibitory factors to growth on this medium. A series of pot trials was conducted to test the tolerance of duckweed to abattoir effluent partially remediated by a sojourn in anaerobic fermentation ponds, both in its unmodified form, and after the addition of acid to manipulate pH, and the addition of bentonite. Unmodified abattoir effluent was highly toxic to duckweed, although duckweed remained viable and grew sub optimally in media with total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations of up to 100 mg/l. Duckweed also grew vigorously in effluent diluted 1:4 v/v, containing 56 mg TAN/L and also modified by addition of acid to decrease pH to 7 and by adding bentonite (0.5%).

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.187-196
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• 2012

Recently, for the purpose of constructing artificial ecosystem, the public aquarium and experimental mesocosm systems are receiving attention. To design and establish an aquarium and mesocosm system, there is need of several materials for simulating the environment, such as sediments, rocks, and plants. Expecially for sessile mollusks, there must be proper materials to which sessile invertebrates can adhere. Nowadays, many aquariums and mesocosm systems are using dead coral skeletons for sessile mollusks. This study was proceeded to have data on the effect of dead coral skeletons on water qualities with the experiment on the environmental factors. For this purpose, I made glass tank for experiment, chose two types of dead coral skeletons imported from the Indonesia and observed the change of water qualities and decomposition efficiency of TAN (total ammonia-nitrogen), nitrite ($NO_2{^-}$) and nitrate ($NO_3{^-}$). As a result, the lager the surface area was, the more TAN, nitrite and nitrate decomposition rate increased. In addition, coral skeletons covered with crustose algae and bacteria in the tank showed faster TAN, nitrite and nitrate removal rate and stabilization. Accordingly, this experiment suggested that dead coral skeletons could be used as a sub filter for the closed system as well as an adhering plate.

• Plant Resources
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 1998

Soybean is an important crop because its seed has very high protein relative to others. The quality of soy protein is limited by the concentration of the sulfur-containing amino acids in the amino acid profile. Among the supply of various forms of 0.4mM sulfur as S nutrition during seed fill. only 0.4mM L-methionine can inhibit ${\beta}$-subunit synthesis completely and produce the highest glycinin-containing seeds. Compared to 0.4mM sulfate control, seeds supplied by 0.4mM L-methionine have lower ${\alpha}$-, no ${\beta}$-subunit, and highly increased glycinin without altering total protein concentration. Supply of 0.2mM cystine (0.4mM S) did not affect the accumulative pattern of seed storage protein (SSP) subunits. In the supply of L-methionine, 0.2mM treatment showed higher glycinin in seeds but 0.05mM resulted in lower glycinin than tile sulfate control. The relative abundance of ${\alpha}^`$-subunit was not altered by any N or S nutrition. Under 5mM nitrogen, protein concentration was increased about 3-5% by substituting ammonia for nitrate during seed fill independent of nutrition. The increase resulted in the only increase of 7S protein, mainly ${\beta}$-subunit. Our data suggest that the regulatory system of SSP genes responds to the balance between N and S assimilates supplied from mother plant. and controls the di fferential synthesis of their subunits for the maximum protein accumulation in developing soybean seed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.306-312
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• 2010

This field study was performed to evaluate the efficiency of a plasma ion-operated air cleaner in temporal reduction of airborne pollutants emitted from a pig housing facility. In the case of gaseous pollutants, the plasma ion air cleaner was not effective in reducing levels of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, or sulfur dioxide (p>0.05). In the case of particulate pollutants, however, the air cleaner was effective in reducing levels of particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_1$) by 79(${\pm}6.1$) and 78(${\pm}3.0$)%, respectively. Unlike the case of these fine particle fractions, the reduction of total suspended particles (TSP) and $PM_{10}$ following treatment was almost negligible. In the case of biological pollutants, the mean reduction efficiencies for airborne bacteria and fungi were relatively low at 22(${\pm}6.6$) and 25(${\pm}8.7$)%, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that in terms of air pollutants released from this pig housing facility, the plasma ion air cleaner was primarily effective in reducing levels of $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_1$.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1849-1857
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• 2007

The experiment was carried out using fistulated multiparous Holstein Friesian crossbred (75% Holstein Friesian and 25% Red Sindhi) dairy cows in their dry period fed on untreated rice straw to evaluate the nutritive value of local protein feed resources using the in sacco method and in vitro pepsin-pancreatin digestion. Experimental feeds were cottonseed meal (CSM); soybean meal (SBM); dried brewery's grains (DBG); palm kernel meal (PSM); cassava hay (CH); leucaena leaf meal (LLM). Each feedstuff was weighed into duplicate nylon bags and incubated in each of the two rumen fistulated cows for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 48 h. Rumen feed residues from bags of 16 h incubation were used for estimation of lower gut digestibility by the technique of in vitro pepsin-pancreatin digestion. Ruminal ammonia-nitrogen ($NH_3-N$) concentrations did not differ between treatments or time with a mean of 5.5 mg%. Effective degradability of DM of CSM, SBM, DBG, PSM, CH and LLM were 41.9, 56.1, 30.8, 47.0, 41.1 and 47.5%, respectively. Effective degradabilities of the CP in feedstuffs were 49.6, 59.2, 40.9, 33.5, 47.3 and 65.0% for the respective feedstuffs. The CP in vitro pepsin-pancreatin digestibility as ranked from the highest to the lowest were SBM, CSM, LLM, CH, DBG, PSM, respectively. The intestinal and total tract digestion of feedstuffs in the current study were relatively lower than that obtained from previous literature. The results of this study indicate that SBM and LLM were highly degradable in the rumen, while CH, CSM and DBG were less degradable and, hence resulted in higher rumen undegradable protein. Soybean meal and LLM could be used to improve rumen ecology whilst CH, CSM and DBG could be used as rumen by-pass protein for ruminant feeding in the tropics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1705-1711
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ruminally protected amino acids (RPAAs) and ruminally protected fat (RPF) supplementation on ruminal fermentation characteristics (in vitro) and milk yield and milk composition (in vivo). Fourteen mid-lactating Holstein dairy cows (mean weight $653{\pm}62.59kg$) were divided into two groups according to mean milk yield and number of days of postpartum. The cows were then fed a basal diet during adaptation (2 wk) and experimental diets during the treatment period (6 wk). Dietary treatments were i) a basal diet (control) and ii) basal diet containing 50 g of RPAAs (lysine and methionine, 3:1 ratio) and 50 g of RPF. In rumen fermentation trail (in vitro), RPAAs and RPF supplementation had no influence on the ruminal pH, dry matter digestibility, total volatile fatty acid production and ammonia-N concentration. In feeding trial (in vivo), milk yield (p<0.001), 4% fat corrected milk (p<0.05), milk fat (p<0.05), milk protein (p<0.001), and milk urea nitrogen (p<0.05) were greater in cows fed RPAAs and RPF than the corresponding values in the control group. With an index against as 0%, the rates of decrease in milk yield and milk protein were lower in RPAAs and RPF treated diet than those of basal diet group (p<0.05). In conclusion, diet supplemented with RPAAs and RPF can improve milk yield and milk composition without negatively affecting ruminal functions in Holstein dairy cows at mid-lactating.