• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1559-1568
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• 2021

Objective: Bedding materials directly contact hooves of dairy cows and they may serve as environmental sources of lameness-associated pathogen. However, the specific composition of bacteria hidden in bedding materials is still not clear. The aim of this study was to determine the effect bedding material and its bacterial composition has on lameness of Holstein heifers. Methods: Forty-eight Holstein heifers with similar body weights were randomly assigned into three groups including sand bedding (SB), concrete floor (CF), and compost bedding (CB). Hock injuries severity and gait performance of dairy cows were scored individually once a week. Blood samples were collected at the end of the experiment and bedding material samples were collected once a week for Illumina sequencing. Results: The CF increased visible hock injuries severity and serum biomarkers of joint damage in comparison to SB and CB groups. Besides, Illumina sequencing and analysis showed that the bacterial community of CB samples had higher similarity to that of SB samples than CF samples. Bacteria in three bedding materials were dominated by gastrointestinal bacteria and organic matter-degrading bacteria, such as Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and norank JG30-KF-cM45. Lameness-associated Spirochaetaceae and Treponeme were only detected in SB and CB samples with a very low relative abundance (0% to 0.08%). Conclusion: The bacterial communities differed among bedding materials. However, the treponemes pathogens involved in the pathogenesis of lameness may not be a part of microbiota in bedding materials of dairy cows.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1957-1966
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• 2022

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the difference in the thigh meat quality of Ross 308 broiler from conventional and welfare farms. Methods: Thigh meat samples of Ross 308 broilers (age, 35 d; carcass weight, 1.1 kg) from conventional farm (RCF, n = 60) and animal welfare farms (RAWF, n = 60) were analyzed. Proximate composition, pH, color (lightness, redness, and yellowness), water-holding capacity (WHC), shear force, total aerobic bacteria (TAB), and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) were measured and the levels of bioactive compounds such as dipeptides (anserine and carnosine), creatine, creatinine, and their anti-oxidation activity were determined. Results: The RCF and RAWF did not differ significantly in their proximate composition, WHC, color, and creatine and carnosine levels. The pH value was significantly lower in RAWF than in RCF on day 7. The shear force value was significantly higher in RAWF than in RCF throughout the storage duration. TAB in RCF on day 9 were significantly higher than those in RAWF. The VBN content of RAWF was significantly lower than that of RCF after 5 days of storage. Creatinine content was significantly higher in RAWF (3.50 mg/100 g) than in RCF (3.08 mg/100 g) on day 1. Along with higher carnosine and anserine contents of RAWF, it had significantly higher 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activities than those of RCF. Conclusion: These results imply that the animal welfare farming system beneficially affects the overall oxidative stability of Ross 308 thigh meat.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.307-315
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• 2020

The physique and health status of Chinese college students have received a generous concern in recent years. The physical condition of Chinese college students is not good and this phenomenon is especially obvious among female college students, which has been an disputable fact. This study starts from exercise intervention to study the concrete influence of taijiquan (a kind of traditional Chinese shadow boxing) and five-animal exercises on human body balance ability; the study uses experimental apparatus to measure the specific impact of exercise intervention on human body balance ability; meanwhile, the study also applies data analysis to longitudinally study whether the two studied sports items affect body balance, and whether there is difference in terms of the influence of two sports items on human body balance ability. The conclusions are as follows: firstly, 24-style taijiquan and five-animal exercises can improve ankle muscle strength, and the focus and degree of the improvement are different; secondly, five-animal exercises have a better improvement effect on the flexor and extensor muscles of ankle joint and 24-style taijiquan is in the second place. Moreover, compared with 24-style taijiquan, there is no significant difference in terms of the improvement caused by five-animal exercises; thirdly, 24-style taijiquan has a better effect on the improvement of internal rotation and evertors muscle strength. Compared with 24-style taijiquan, five-animal exercises have no significant difference in terms of the improvement degree.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.303-309
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• 2014

The increasing importance of meat quality has implications for animal breeding programs. Research has revealed much about the genetic background of pigs, and many studies have revealed the importance of various genetic factors. Since meat quality is a complex trait which is affected by many factors, consideration of the overall phenotype is very useful to study meat quality. For integrating the phenotypes, we used principle component analysis (PCA). The significant SNPs refer to results of the GRAMMAR method against PC1, PC2 and PC3 of 14 meat quality traits of 181 Duroc pigs. The Genome-wide association study (GWAS) found 26 potential SNPs affecting various meat quality traits. The loci identified are located in or near 23 genes. The SNPs associated with meat quality are in or near five genes (ANK1, BMP6, SHH, PIP4K2A, and FOXN2) and have been reported previously. Twenty-five of the significant SNPs also located in meat quality-related QTL regions, these result supported the QTL effect indirectly. Each single gene typically affects multiple traits. Therefore, it is a useful approach to use integrated traits for the various traits at the same time. This innovative approach using integrated traits could be applied on other GWAS of complex-traits including meat-quality, and the results will contribute to improving meat-quality of pork.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.584-591
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• 2015

This study characterized the fecal bacterial community structure and inter-individual variation in 30-week-old Duroc pigs, which are known for their excellent meat quality. Pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA genes generated 108,254 valid reads and 508 operational taxonomic units at a 95% identity cut-off (genus level). Bacterial diversity and species richness as measured by the Shannon diversity index were significantly greater than those reported previously using denaturation gradient gel electrophoresis; thus, this study provides substantial information related to both known bacteria and the untapped portion of unclassified bacteria in the population. The bacterial composition of Duroc pig fecal samples was investigated at the phylum, class, family, and genus levels. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes predominated at the phylum level, while Clostridia and Bacteroidia were most abundant at the class level. This study also detected prominent inter-individual variation starting at the family level. Among the core microbiome, which was observed at the genus level, Prevotella was consistently dominant, as well as a bacterial phylotype related to Oscillibacter valericigenes, a valerate producer. This study found high bacterial diversity and compositional variation among individuals of the same breed line, as well as high abundance of unclassified bacterial phylotypes that may have important functions in the growth performance of Duroc pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.728-735
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• 2017

Objective: This study was performed to reveal the molecular structure and expression patterns of horse glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM) genes whose products form glutamate cysteine ligase, which were identified as differentially expressed genes in the previous study. Methods: We performed bioinformatics analyses, and gene expression assay with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for horse GCLC and GCLM genes in muscle and blood leukocytes of Thoroughbred horses Results: Expression of GCLC showed the same pattern in both blood and muscle tissues after exercise. Expression of GCLC increased in the muscle and blood of Thoroughbreds, suggesting a tissue-specific regulatory mechanism for the expression of GCLC. In addition, expression of the GCLM gene increased after exercise in both the blood and muscle of Thoroughbreds. Conclusion: We established the expression patterns of GCLC and GCLM in the skeletal muscle and blood of Thoroughbred horses in response to exercise. Further study is now warranted to uncover the functional importance of these genes in exercise and recovery in racehorses.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2020

The ticks feed large amount of blood from their hosts and transmit pathogens to the victims. The salivary gland plays an important role in the blood feeding. When the female ticks are near engorgement, the salivary gland gradually loses its functions and begins to rapidly degenerate. In this study, data-independent acquisition quantitative proteomics was used to study changes in the phosphorylation modification of proteins during salivary gland degeneration in Haemaphysalis longicornis. In this quantitative study, 400 phosphorylated proteins and 850 phosphorylation modification sites were identified. Trough RNA interference experiments, we found that among the proteins with changes in phosphorylation, apoptosis-promoting Hippo protein played a role in salivary gland degeneration.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.413-422
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of adding curcumin-steviol glycoside complex (CSG) on the growth performance and meat quality of white semi broilers. A total of 60 one-day-old white semi broilers with an initial body weight (BW) 40.0 ± 0.2 g were used in a 5-week experiment. The three treatments were as follows: 1) CON; basal diet, 2) T1; CON + 0.5% CSG and 3) T2; CON + 1.0% CSG. Each treatment consisted of 5 replicate cages with 4 broilers per cage. In 0 - 2 weeks, the supplementation of 1.0% CSG in the diets significantly increased (p < 0.05) the BW and decreased the feed intake (FI), thereby improving the feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the CON group. For meat quality, the T2 group showed a higher water holding capacity (WHC) and lower drip loss (DL) and cooking loss (CL) compared to the CON group (p < 0.05). For meat color, the T2 group showed a significantly lower lightness (L^*) and yellowness (b^*) than that of the other treatment groups (p < 0.05). In the sensory evaluation, the meat color and texture in the T2 group were significantly improved (p < 0.05) compared with those of the other treatment groups. As a result, the acceptability of consumers was ameliorated. In conclusion, this study shows that the supplementation of CSG improved the growth performance and meat quality in white semi broilers. This study suggests that 1.0% CSG is the optimal level in the diet.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.591-599
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• 2024

Objective: Sumba Ongole (SO) cattle are valuable breed due to their important role in the development of Indonesian cattle. Despite rapid advances in molecular technology, no genomic studies on SO cattle have been conducted to date. The aim of this study is to provide genomic profile related to the population diversity, admixture, and demographic trends of SO cattle. Methods: Genomic information was gathered from 79 SO cattle using the Illumina Bovine SNP50 v3 Beadchip, and for comparative purposes, additional genotypes from 209 cattle populations worldwide were included. The expected and observed heterozygosity, inbreeding coefficient, pairwise fixation indices between-population, and Nei's genetic distance were examined. Multidimensional scaling, admixture, and treemix analyses were used to investigate the population structure. Based on linkage disequilibrium and effective population size calculations, the demographic trend was observed. Results: The findings indicated that the genetic diversity of SO cattle was similar to that of other indicine breeds. SO cattle were genetically related to indicines but not to taurines or Bali cattle. The study further confirmed the close relationship between SO, Ongole, and Nellore cattle. Additionally, a small portion of the Ongole mixture were identified dominant in the SO population at the moment. The study also discovered that SO and Bali cattle (Bos javanicus) could have been ancestors in the development of Ongole Grade cattle, which corresponds to the documented history of Ongolization. Our finding indicate that SO cattle have maintained stability and possess unique traits separate from their ancestors. Conclusion: In conclusion, the genetic diversity of the SO cattle has been conserved as a result of the growing significance of the present demographic trend. Consistent endeavors are necessary to uphold the fitness of the breed.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.189-222
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• 2008

This study developed a model to empirically investigate the effects of market orientation and relationship orientation with suppliers on business performance and examine the moderating effects of entrepreneur's characteristics (working tenure) and clinic's location. The data was collected from 200 animal clinics which belong to Korean Animal Hospital Association (KAHA)'s national conference in April, 2007. Descriptive statistic, factor analysis, reliability analysis, and regression analysis were conducted to analyze the data using SPSS/PC+ 12.0. The findings are as follows. First, the market orientation of animal clinics influences significantly both financial and non-financial performance. When the moderating effect of entrepreneur's working tenure is considered, market orientation has significant effect on animal clinic's financial and non-financial performance. However, when the moderating effect of animal clinic's location is considered, market orientation has not significant effect on animal clinic's financial and non-financial performance. Second, animal clinic's relationship orientation with suppliers mostly affects the financial and non-financial performance significantly. When entrepreneur's working tenure in the clinic is longer (above 4 years group), relationship orientation with suppliers significantly affects both financial and non-financial performance. Meanwhile, when the entrepreneur's working tenure in the clinic is shorter (less than 3 years group), relationship orientation with suppliers doesn't affect clinic's financial performance but affect non-financial performance partially. In other words, when entrepreneur's working tenure is shorter (less than 3 years group), market orientation more influences on clinic's financial and non-financial performance while relationship orientation with suppliers does less. It is thought that their relation with suppliers and relationship orientation activities with suppliers are less strongly established and maintained yet. So, they primarily focus on market orientation strategy when entrepreneur's working tenure is shorter. Third, when animal clinics are located in non-metropolitan area, relationship orientation with suppliers significantly affects financial and non-financial performance. However, when animal clinics are located in metropolitan area, it doesn't affect financial and non-financial performance either. It is thought that animal clinics which are located in non-metropolitan area need stronger relationship with suppliers and need support more from them as most of suppliers actively work in metropolitan area not in the non-metropolitan area and animal clinics in metropolitan area can easily get better market information than animal clinics in non-metropolitan area. Lastly, while the effect of the market orientation significantly influences animal clinic's business performance continuously, the effect of the relationship orientation differently influences business performance as it is moderated by entrepreneur's working tenure and animal clinic's location. So, relationship orientation with suppliers can be selectively applied to improve the clinic's financial and no-financial performance. In summary, both of animal clinic's marketing orientation and animal clinic's relationship orientation with suppliers positively influence their business performance. However, entrepreneur's working tenure and animal clinic location moderate the relationship between market orientation and relationship orientation and their business performance differently. This study is quite meaningful to empirically investigate the effects of both of market orientation and relationship orientation with suppliers on business performance and examine the moderating effects of entrepreneur's characteristics (working tenure) and clinic's location. And, as this kind of study has been very few in the context of animal clinic industry, it helps practically understand the effects of market orientation and relationship orientation with suppliers on the financial and non-financial performance in animal clinic industry. Furthermore, as the market conditions in animal clinic industry have been in difficulty for a few years, this study can help improve animal clinic's financial and non-financial business performance together with their suppliers as business partners. Lastly, this study can help find mid-term and long-term cooperation between animal clinics and their suppliers. This study has some limitations. So, care should be taken when generalizing the results of the study. First, our samples were collected from only the animal clinics industry. However, a comparison of the results presented here with those form other marketing contexts (e.g., general hospitals) would be worthwhile. Future comparative research will enhance the generality of our contingency theory cross industry context. Second, this study found that market orientation and relationship orientation affect business performance. However, there may be other antecedents, such as internal market orientation and relationship orientation with customers. Also, this research did not consider other moderators, such as overall market conditions, competitive situations, and power/conflict between suppliers and buyers in the relationship between market and relationship orientation and business performance.