• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1186-1190
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• 2002

One hundred and twenty nine primiparous sows were used to determine the effects of alternative processing procedures and feeding systems on the nutritional value of sorghum grain-based diets for lactating sows. Treatments were a ground sorghum control, steam-flaked sorghum and extruded sorghum fed in meal form and the ground sorghum control given as pellets or gruel (1:1 ratio of water and feed on a volume:volume basis). Average daily feed intake was greater for sows fed pelleted and gruel diet forms than sow fed the diets with steam-flaked and extruded sorghum (p<0.04). However, no differences occurred in sow weight or backfat losses among the treatments (p>0.14). Number of pigs weaned and livability rates were similar among treatments except that steam-flaked sorghum supported greater litter weight gains than extruded sorghum (p<0.02). Apparent digestibilities of DM, N and GE in sows fed steam-flaked and extruded sorghum were greater (p<0.001) than in sows fed pelleted or gruel diets. Of the various treatments, sows fed extruded sorghum tended to have the highest digestibilities of DM, N and GE, and lowest excretions of DM and N in the faeces. Severity of ulceration was not significantly affected by treatments (p>0.35), but keratinization was greatest for sows fed extruded sorghum (p<0.01). In conclusion, the alternative processing methods (steam-flaking and extrusion) and feeding system (pellets and gruel) had little effect on sow and litter performance. However, nutrient digestibilities were improved for all treatments that involved heating (steam flaking, extrusion and pelleting) and, thus, these treatments resulted in less fecal excretion of DM and N.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.93-107
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• 2013

Construction of an artificial wetland for the growth of Sphagnum palustre with emergent macrophytes (Phragmites australis, Typha angustifolia, and Zizania latifolia) was firstly tried and the growth of those plant components according to various environmental combinations has been monitored for three years. Above-ground dry weight of Z. latifolia ($1,500g/m^2$) was higher than T. angustifolia ($900g/m^2$) and P. australis ($500g/m^2$) under most environmental conditions. In overall, planted emergent macrophytes seemed to prefer polishing sand without moss peat as a substrate and relatively deep water-depth condition (20cm) rather than shallow water-depth (5cm). Despite of high calcium content in inflow water (> 15ppm) into the constructed wetland, S. palustre populations have survived in most experimental plots during the monitoring period. Substrate layer including moss peat with high surface-area might play a role as an ion-filter. After three years, relatively thicker litter-layer in Z. latifolia plots due to vigorous growth appeared to heavily depress S. palustre by physical compressing and complete shading processes. Most of all, for the continuous growth of S. palustre, physio-chemical characteristics of water and substrate must be carefully managed. In addition, companion emergent species should be also cautiously selected not to depress S. palustre by much litter production. We suggest P. australis and T. angustifolia as companion species rather than Z. latifolia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1323-1331
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• 2020

Objective: Three types of dietary fiber were fed to sows during gestation and lactation stages to monitor their physiological and metabolic adaptations during the pre-partum period and to determine how these effects may influence the lactation period and sow performance. Methods: Soon after breeding, 54 sows were selected and were fed with 20% supplementation as fed of wheat bran (WB), soya hulls (SH), or rice hulls (RH) in diets during gestation and lactation. Sows were weighed, backfat thickness was measured ultrasonically and jugular blood samples were collected from all sows. The litter size was equalized to 10, by fostering piglets from sows on the same treatment. Results: Sows gained 22.0, 21.8, and 25.5 kg of net maternal body weight during gestation (for WB, SH, and RH sows, respectively; p = 0.007). There was no treatment effect on the body weight change during lactation (p = 0.158), however RH sows consumed an average of 133.66 kg of feed, WB sows took 121.29 kg and SH sows took 126.77 kg during lactation (p<0.001). The SH litters gained an average of 59.34 kg of weight during lactation, while other litters gained 51.58 and 49.98 kg (for WB and RH litters, respectively; p<0.001). Exception for aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, measured serum biochemical values were broadly in agreement with earlier reports. Despite the use of additional vegetable oil to balance the energy level, RH sows still had lower concentrations of serum triglycerides in late gestation. Conclusion: Different types of fibrous ingredients in the gestation diet influenced most of the investigated reference values for sows. The values of serum biochemical parameters were generally not affected by fiber type during the lactation stage. The SH supplementation for sows is an effective approach to give heavier litters at birth and weaning and to increase voluntary feed intake in early lactation.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1860-1868
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of optimal trace mineral levels on the physiological responses, reproductive performance, litter performance, blood profiles and milk composition in gestating sows. Methods: A total of 59 multiparous sows (Yorkshire×Landrace) with similar body weight (BW), backfat thickness (BF), and parity were assigned to one of four treatments with 14 or 15 sows per treatment using a completely randomized design. The treatments were 100% (M1), 300% (M3), 600% (M6), and 900% (M9) of the National Research Council (NRC) Nutrient Requirements of Swine. During lactation period, all the sows were fed the same commercial lactation diet. Results: No significant differences were observed in the BW, BF, reproductive performance, milk composition, or growth performance of the piglets. On day 70 of gestation, the serum zinc concentration showed a quadratic response to M6 treatment (quadratic, p<0.05). Moreover, as the dietary mineral levels increased, the zinc concentration increased linearly at 110 days of gestation (linear, p<0.05). Furthermore, copper and iron concentrations in the serum of sows at 24 h postpartum decreased linearly when high levels of dietary minerals were provided (linear, p<0.05). In the serum of piglets, serum zinc concentrations decreased linearly (linear, p<0.05), and iron concentration showed a quadratic response (quadratic, p<0.05) with an increase in trace mineral premix levels in gestation diets. Conclusion: The current trace mineral requirements of NRC (2012) are suitable for gestating sows, and the addition of dietary mineral levels in the gestating diet did not show any improvements during the gestation and lactation periods.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.603-616
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the productivity, meat quality, blood variables, stress responses, and litter quality of broilers offered feed with different levels of Glycine (Gly) supplementation under heat stress condition. A total of 760 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler males were randomly assigned to one of the four dietary treatment groups: (1) basal diet (control; CON); (2) basal diet + Gly 0.1% (Gly 0.1%); (3) basal diet + Gly 0.2% (Gly 0.2%); and (4) basal diet + Gly 0.3% (Gly 0.3%). The environments for all the treatments groups were maintained according to broiler rearing guidelines from day 1 to day 21, and heat stress condition (32 ± 1℃, 60 ±5%) was created from day 22 to the end. The addition of Gly increased weight gain and affected feed intake (p < 0.05). Gly 0.1% group had higher pH and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) in the chicken meat and lower heterophil (HE)/lymphocyte (LY) ratio in the blood (p < 0.05). In particular, Gly 0.2% treatment group had lower serum corticosterone level (p < 0.05) than other groups. For jejunum morphology, the addition of Gly 0.2% significantly reduced the depth of the crypts (p < 0.05). However, the addition of Gly did not significantly affect litter quality (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the addition of glycine improved productivity and meat quality, alleviated heat stress, and improved intestinal function. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal level and mechanism of action of the additive when ingested.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 1983

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of some kinds of tree litters covered the soil surface on the germination, establishment, sward composition, and herbage production of the grasses sown by the oversowing method. The litters were leaves of Pinus rigida Miller, Quercus variabilis Blume, Larix leptolepis Gord, and Alnus hirsuta Rupr. The results obtained were as follows; 1. In the Petri dish, germination was affected by grass species and kinds of litters, especially the percolate from Pinus litter seriously suppressed the early germination of small size seeds such as ladino clover and timothy. 2. In the pot, establishment was slightly suppressed in ladino and timothy by the percolate from Pinus litter, while in others it was decreased relatively. 3. Among the 6 species investigated, the small size seeds of ladino clover and timothy and the large size seeds of red clover, they could be early put into the litter spaces and established well. 4. In Larix litter, the establishment percentage of all species were decreased seriously owing to low moisture retention capacity. 5. Grass height and root length were different in kinds of litters and species. 6. The percentages of establishment on each surface treatments of burning, treading, raking, and the control under Quercus tree were 36, 46, 37, and 31%, respectively. 7. The sward percentage of oversown grasses and legumes was 57.8% in burning, 70.9% in treading, 59.6% in raking, and 54.0% in the control. 8. Treading treatment was most effective to destroy existing vegetation and improve soil-seed contact when oversowing and showed the best result. 9. Yield of dry matter per unit area in treading treatment was higher (p<0.05) than those of the other treatments. The above experimental results suggest the importance of direct oversowing on the litters in the mountainous land and forest land.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.6
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• pp.791-798
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• 2009

The role of forest and soil carbon under global climate change is getting important as a carbon sink and it is necessary to research on applicable forest models as well as in the field for a study of these dynamics. On this study, historical annual litter dataset as a major input data for the forest soil carbon model, Yasso was established using a dendrochronological reconstruction method, and the soil carbon dynamics of a Pinus densiflora forest in Gwangneung, Korea was simulated using Yasso. The amount of litter (needle, branch, stem and fine root) production, which was estimated using the dendrochronological method, has increased continuously from 1971 to 2006. Furthermore, there was no significant error between estimated and measured values of litter production (needle and branch) in 2006. The average of simulated soil carbon stock up to 30 cm depth was $46.30{\pm}4.28tCha^{-1}$, which accounted for 53% of carbon stock in trees of the forest, and had no significant difference and error with measured soil carbon stock. Under the climate change trend in Korea according to IPCC A1B scenario, it was estimated that the simulated soil carbon stock in the region would increase continuously from 1971 to 2041 and then decreased until 2100. Compared to the result of the scenario that there is no climate change, the soil carbon stock could be decreased up to 7.58% at 2100. It was inferred the dendrochronological reconstruction method and simulation of Yasso model are useful to estimate soil carbon dynamics of the natural P. densiflora forest. Follow-up researches, such as improvement of the dendrochronological method and Yasso model and their application and validation in various environment, are needed to produce more reliable results.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.633-641
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• 1999

Reaction by neighbours to odours is increasingly affecting operations of existing animal farming operations and may adversely constrain the further development of the animal production industry in some parts of Australia. It is critical that the scale of such odour impact on the rural-urban interface be estimated to provide useful information both for environmental protection and animal farming operations. Furthermore, the information can be used to modify odour reduction strategies as economic conditions change. The Centre for Water and Waste Technology at The University of New South Wales has developed a comprehensive set of odour control techniques in the course of its research and development effort over the past eight years. Techniques have been developed for odour sampling at point, area and volume sources, monitoring environmental parameters such as ventilation rate, shed temperature, shed humidity, litter water content and ambient meteorological condition, olfactometry and odour dispersion modelling. The work has paved the way for the establishment of odour reduction strategies based on best environmental management practice and advanced odour abatement technologies.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 1985

Energy flow through the trophic levels was studied at a salt marsh ecosystem distinguished into low and high marsh. Gross primary productions of Suaedeto-Salicornietum and Artemisieto-Limonietum at low marsh were 8, 299 and 13, 154kca/$m^2$/yr, and those of Calama-grostetum and Sonchuso-Setaetum at high marsh were 17, 899 and 15, 177kca/$m^2$/yr, respectively. Efficiencies of solar energy utilization of plants were 1.7 and 2.6% at the former, and were 3.6 and 3.2% at the latter. Of gross productions, net primary productions were 3, 977 and 5, 280kca/m2/yr at low marsh and were 6, 354 and 5, 329kca/$m^2$/yr at high marsh, and the remainder, 52~67%, was consumed by respiration of plants. A small amount (0.03~0.04%) of the net primary production was flowed through grazing food chain and most amout was transferred into dead parts. Of dead parts, 40% was accuulated as litter and the rest was decomposed into detritus. In the detritus food chain, a little energy was utilized by detritus feeder, and a major by microorganism. The amounts of energy flowed through grazing and detritus feeders at high marsh were much more than those at low marsh, but tertary production as spider was Vice versa.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.305-328
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• 1991

Pig breeding programs have been very successful in the improvement of animals by the simple expedient of focusing on a few traits of economic importance, particularly growth efficiency and leanness. Further reductions in leanness may become more difficult to achieve, due to reduced genetic variation, and less desirable, due to adverse correlated effects on meat and eating quality. Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) of breeding values makes possible the incorporation of data from many sources and increases the value of including traits such as sow performance in the breeding objective. Advances in technology, such as electronic animal identification, electronic feeders, improved ultrasonic scanners and automated data capture at slaughter houses, increase the number of sources of information that can be included in breeding value predictions. Breeding program structures will evolve to reflect these changes and a common structure is likely to be several or many breeding farms genetically linked by A.i., with data collected on a number of traits from many sources and integrated into a single breeding value prediction using BLUP. Future developments will include the production of a porcine gene map which may make it possible to identify genes controlling economically valuable traits, such as those for litter size in the Meishan, and introgress them into nucleus populations. Genes identified from the gene map or from other sources will provide insight into the genetic basis of performance and may provide the raw material from which transgenic programs will channel additional genetic variance into nucleus populations undergoing selection.