• Composites Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2004

This paper aims to correlate the micro-mechanical behaviour of tow geometry with applied in-plane forces during deformation of dry woven carbon-fibre fabric. These in-plane forces lead to differences in tow reorganisation during deformation and so changes in the way in which 'lock-up' occurs. In this paper, deformation of micro-mechanical parameters such as tow interval, crimp angle, change in tow amplitude and wavelength are investigated. To observe the micro-deformation of the fabric structure, appropriate specimens from bias extension and biaxial tests are sectioned and observed under the microscope. It was found that different loading conditions cause geometric deferences in the tow architecture. The variation in deformed tow geometry with shear angle is fitted using a simple parametric model.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.820-824
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• 2004

The study was to see the effect of administration of ruminal fungi on feed intake, growth rate, rumen fermentation and nutrient digestion of calves (Tharparkar$\times$Holstein-Friesian, average age: 10 months, average body weight: 130 kg). The 6 calves in first group were fed a mixture consisted of 50% wheat straw and 50% concentrate (Maize 62%, Groundnut cake 35%, Mineral mix. 2% and Common salt 1%) along with 1 kg green oats $animal^{-1}$ $day^{-1}$ while second group calves were fed the above-mentioned diet in addition to a dose of 160 ml ($10^{6}$ CFU/ml) fungal culture $calf^{-1}$ $week^{-1}$. The average dry matter intake per day was slightly lowered in fungal fed calves yet feed conversion ratio was higher. The average daily weight gain was significantly higher (15.37%) in fungal administered group as compared to control. The nutrient digestibility was increased for crude fibre, NDF and ADF with fungal administration. Digestible energy value of straw-based diet in terms of percent TDN also increased. The pH and $NH_{3}$-N were lower whereas TVFA, total-N, TCA-N and number of zoospores were higher in rumen liquor in fungal administered group.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.217-233
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• 1998

Milk yield and its composition is governed by level of nutrition and the composition of diet. Higher concentrate input improves milk yield, whereas its input at moderate levels improves yield of milk fat. High level of dietary protein improves dry matter intake and milk production, however, CP content above 14% has less advantage. Milk yield is enhanced by the feeding of cottonseed and soyabean meal, whereas milk fat increases by the supplementation of cottonseed. Dietary fat increases energy intake, production of milk and milk fat. Quality and quantity of feeds consumed affect fermentation patterns in rumen. Among the rumen metabolites, volatile fatty acids (VFA) content and propionate proportion have been related positively with milk yield, whereas proportion of acetate and butyrate have been related positively with milk fat content. Dietary carbohydrates through the source of sugar, starch, roughage and fibre affect VFA concentration in rumen. Therefore, concentration of volatile fatty acids could be altered to the advantage of consumer through judicious manipulation of diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 1995

Seven varieties of rice were cultivated in the field of BLRI of which three were native (Maloti, Nizershail and Chandrashail) and four were improved ($BR_3$, $BR_{11}$, Pasam and Mala). Yields of straw and grain were recorded and the chemical composition of straw was determined. Both the grain (p < 0.05) and straw (p > 0.05) yields were higher in the improved than the native varities. Relationships of straw dry matter yield with the hights of rice plants, tiller numbers, levels of N fertilizer and lengths of stover were found to be statistically insignificant. No significant differences were observed among the varieties in respect of NDF, cell soluble, cellulose and hemicellulose contents. However, modified acid detergent fibre and insoluble ash content were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the local varieties. Except $BR_3$, the estimated ME content of straw was higher in the improved than the native varieties. In respect of yield, chemical composition and energy content improved straws were better and Pasam was the best.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 1992

Silages were prepared with different ratios of oat and wheat straw 100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100 with or without urea supplementation and were ensiled for 60 days in air tight polyethylene bags and kept at room temperature. Results showed that dry matter loss was maximum in 100% oat silage and it decreased as the ratio of wheat straw increased. There was a significant difference in crude protein value of the silages prepared by different ratios of oat and wheat straw. Addition of urea significantly increased the crude protein and decreased the crude fibre value. Silage made with urea supplementation were well fermented as indicated by higher value of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and lower value of residual carbohydrates. Maximum VFA concentrations were observed in 60:40 oat-wheat straw silages. The value of enzyme soluble organic matter (ESOM) was high in all the urea supplemented silages as compared to without urea and maximum value was found in 60:40 oat-wheat straw combination.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.514-517
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• 2004

Expeller pressed and solvent extracted palm kernel cake (PKC) were force-fed to male and female Muscovy ducks at 7 weeks of age. The nutrient digestibility, apparent metabolizable energy (AME), true metabolizable energy (TME) and true available amino acid (TAAA) digestibilities were determined. There was no significant (p>0.05) effect of the type of PKC used on crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), metabolizable energy (ME) and amino acid (AA) digestibilities. However, digestibilities of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) was found to be higher in solvent extracted compared to expeller pressed PKC. The average digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and EE were 43, 58, 39 and 89%, espectively. It was found that the ducks utilized about 47% of the gross energy of PKC. The respective average AMEn and TMEn values of PKC for Muscovy ducks was 1,743 and 1,874 kcal/kg. The overall TAAA of PKC for Muscovy ducks was 65%. The data on the TMEn and digestible AA for PKC obtained from this study provide new information with regard to diet formulation for Muscovy ducks.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 1991

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of propionic acid and wilting on fermentation quality of Italian ryegrass silage. Grass material was wilted for a day before ensiling and propionic acid(0. 0, 0. 2. 0. 5 and 0.8 7~ of fresh matter) was applicated at ensiling time. Chemical composition, fermentation acids, pH, microbial population and distribution of the nitrogen contents were evaluated. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The contents of dry matter and water soluble carbohydrate in the silage were increased by wilting, and crude fibre, NDF and ADF were decreased with increasing propionic acid levels. 2. The pH values of the silage increased by increasing DM content, but decreased with increasing propionic acid levels. Lactic acid content lowed in wilted silage, and acetic acid and butyric acid formation were decreased with increasing propionic acid levels. 3. Total nitrogen content in the silage was i n ~ r e a s e d ( ~ < . 05) by addition of propionic acid and wilting, and was the highest in the prewilting-0.8 Q propionic acid applicated silage. The production of NHBN was decreased with propionic acid and was the lowest in the 0.8 % treated silage. 4. The number of total bacteria and yeasts were estimated $10^6~10^7$, $10^2~10^3$ respectively. Moulds number were decreased with increasing propionic acid levels.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.56-64
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• 2011

This study was conducted to evaluate the use of exogenous enzymes as a potential means of improving the ruminal digestion (i.e., degradability) of alfalfa hay and rice straw. Twenty six enzyme-additives were examined in terms of protein concentration and enzymic activities on model substrates. The exogenous enzymes contained ranges of endoglucanase, xylanase, ${\beta}$-glucanase, ${\alpha}$-amylase, and protease activities. Six of the enzyme additives were chosen for further investigation. The enzyme additives and a control without enzyme were applied to mature quality alfalfa hay substrate and subsequently incubated in rumen batch cultures. Five of the enzyme additives (CE2, CE13, CE14, CE19, and CE24) increased total gas production (GP) at 48 h of incubation compared to the control (p<0.05). The two additives (CE14 and CE24) having the greatest positive effects on alfalfa hay dry matter, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) degradability were further characterized for their ability to enhance degradation of low quality forages. The treatments CE14, CE24, a 50:50 combination of CE14 and CE24 (CE14+24), and control (no enzyme) were applied to mature alfalfa hay and rice straw. For alfalfa hay, application of the two enzyme additives, alone and in combination, increased GP compared to the control at 48 h fermentation (p<0.05), whereas only CE14 and CE14+24 treatments improved GP from rice straw (p<0.05). Rumen fluid volatile fatty acid concentrations throughout the incubation of rice straw were analyzed. Acetate concentration was slightly lower (p<0.05) for CE14${\times}$CE24 compared to the control, although individually, CE14 and CE24 acetate concentrations were not different from the control. Increases (p<0.05) in alfalfa hay NDF degradability measured at 12 and 48 h of incubation occurred only for CE14 (at 12 h) and for CE14+24 (at 12 and 48 h). Similarly, ADF degradability increased (p<0.05) with CE14 and CE14+24. As for rice straw, increased DM degradability was observed at 12 and 48 h of incubation for all enzyme treatments with an exception for CE14 at 12 h. The degradability of NDF was improved by all the enzyme treatments at either incubation time, while ADF degradability was only enhanced at 48 h. Overall, the enzymes led to enhanced digestion of mature alfalfa and there was evidence of improved digestibility of rice straw, an even lower quality forage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.797-803
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• 2017

Objective: Effects of nitrogen supplementation associated with different levels of starch on voluntary intake, digestibility, and rumen and metabolic characteristics of cattle fed low-quality tropical forage (Brachiaria decumbens hay, 7.4% crude protein, CP) were evaluated using ruminal and abomasal cannulated steers. Methods: Five European${\times}$Zebu young bulls (186 kg body weight, BW) were distributed according to a $5{\times}5$ Latin square. The following treatments were evaluated: control, supplementation with 300 g CP/d (0:1), supplementation with 300 g starch/d and 300 g CP/d (1:1), supplementation with 600 g starch/d and 300 g CP/d (2:1), and supplementation with 900 g starch/d and 300 g CP/d (3:1). A mixture of nitrogenous compounds provided 1/3 from true protein (casein) and 2/3 from non-protein nitrogen (mixture of urea and ammonium sulphate, 9:1) was used as the nitrogen supplement. In order to supply energy a unique source of corn starch was used. Results: Supplements increased (p<0.05) dry matter intake, but did not affect (p>0.05) forage intake. There was a cubic effect (p<0.05) of starch on voluntary intake. This was attributed to the highest forage intake (g/kg BW) when using the 2:1 starch:CP ratio. Supplements increased (p<0.05) organic matter (OM) digestibility, but did not affect (p>0.05) neutral detergent fibre corrected for ash and protein (NDFap) digestibility. There was a positive linear effect (p<0.05) of the amount of starch supplemented on OM digestibility. Total NDFap digestibility was not affected (p>0.05) by the amount of supplemental starch. Ruminal ammonia nitrogen concentrations were higher (p<0.05) in supplemented animals, however, a negative linear effect (p<0.05) of amount of starch was observed. Supplements increased (p<0.05) the nitrogen balance (NB) and efficiency of nitrogen utilization. These effects were attributed to increased body anabolism, supported by higher (p<0.05) serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor 1. Increasing the amount of starch tended (p<0.06) to linearly increase the NB. In spite of this, there was a highest NB value for the 2:1 starch:CP ratio amongst the treatments with supplementation. Conclusion: Nitrogen supplementation in cattle fed low-quality tropical forage increases nitrogen retention in the animal's body. An additional supply of starch increases nitrogen retention by increasing energy availability for both rumen and animal metabolism.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1121-1121
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• 2001

A previous study (Berzaghi et al., 2001) evaluated the performance of 3 calibration methods, modified partial least squares (MPLS), local PLS (LOCAL) and artificial neural networks (ANN) on the prediction of the chemical composition of forages, using a large NIR database. The study used forage samples (n=25,977) from Australia, Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy and Sweden) and North America (Canada and U.S.A) with reference values for moisture, crude protein and neutral detergent fibre content. The spectra of the samples were collected using 10 different Foss NIR Systems instruments, only some of which had been standardized to one master instrument. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the behaviour of these different calibration methods when predicting the same samples measured on different instruments. Twenty-two sealed samples of different kind of forages were measured in duplicate on seven instruments (one master and six slaves). Three sets of near infrared spectra (1100 to 2500nm) were created. The first set consisted of the spectra in their original form (unstandardized); the second set was created using a single sample standardization (Clone1); the third was created using a multiple sample procedure (Clone6). WinISI software (Infrasoft International Inc., Port Mathilda, PA, USA) was used to perform both types of standardization, Clone1 is just a photometric offset between a “master” instrument and the “slave” instrument. Clone6 modifies both the X-axis through a wavelength adjustment and the Y-axis through a simple regression wavelength by wavelength. The Clone1 procedure used one sample spectrally close to the centre of the population. The six samples used in Clone 6 were selected to cover the range of spectral variation in the sample set. The remaining fifteen samples were used to evaluate the performances of the different models. The predicted values for dry matter, protein and neutral detergent fibre from the master Instrument were considered as “reference Y values” when computing the statistics RMSEP, SEPC, R, Bias, Slope, mean GH (global Mahalanobis distance) and mean NH (neighbourhood Mahalanobis distance) for the 6 slave instruments. From the results we conclude that i) all the calibration techniques gave satisfactory results after standardization. Without standardization the predicted data from the slaves would have required slope and bias correction to produce acceptable statistics. ii) Standardization reduced the errors for all calibration methods and parameters tested, reducing not only systematic biases but also random errors. iii) Standardization removed slope effects that were significantly different from 1.0 in most of the cases. iv) Clone1 and Clone6 gave similar results except for NDF where Clone6 gave better RMSEP values than Clone1. v) GH and NH were reduced by half even with very large data sets including unstandardized spectra.