• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1491-1499
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• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effects of an Aspergillus sulphureus xylanase expressed in Pichia pastoris on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and gut microbes in weanling pigs. Methods: A total of 180 weanling pigs (initial body weights were $8.47{\pm}1.40kg$) were assigned randomly to 5 dietary treatments. Each treatment had 6 replicates with 6 pigs per replicate. The experimental diets were wheat based with supplementation of 0, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 U xylanase/kg. The experiment lasted 28 days (early phase, d 0 to 14; late phase, d 15 to 28). Results: In the early phase, compared to the control, average daily gain (ADG) was higher for pigs fed diets supplemented with xylanase and there was a quadratic response in ADG (p<0.05). In the entire phase, ADG was higher for the pigs fed 1,000 or 2,000 U/kg xylanase compared to the control (p<0.05). The gain to feed ratio was higher for pigs fed diets supplemented with 1,000 or 2,000 U/kg xylanase compared to the control (p<0.05). Increasing the amount of xylanase improved the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, calcium, and phosphorus during both periods (p<0.05). Xylanase supplementation (2,000 U/kg) decreased the proportion of Lachnospiraceae (by 50%) in Firmicutes, but increased Prevotellaceae (by 175%) in Bacteroidetes and almost diminished Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichia-Shigella) in Proteobacteria. Conclusion: Xylanase supplementation increased growth performance and nutrient digestibility up to 2,000 U/kg. Supplementation of xylanase (2,000 U/kg) decreased the richness of gut bacteria but diminished the growth of harmful pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia-Shigella, in the colon.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2004

Real time ultrasonic measurements for 13th rib fat thickness (LBF), longissimus muscle area (LEMA) and marbling score (LMS) of live animal at pre-harvest and subsequent carcass measurements for fat thickness (BF), longissimus muscle area (EMA), marbling score (MS) as well as body weight of live animal, carcass weight (CW), dressing percentage (DP), and total merit index (TMI) on 755 Korean beef steers were analyzed to estimate genetic parameters. Data were analyzed using multivariate animal models with an EM-REML algorithm. Models included fixed effects for year-season of birth, location of birth, test station, age of dam, linear and quadratic covariates for age or body weight at slaughter and random animal and residual effects. The heritability estimates for LEMA, LBF and LMS on RTU scans were 0.17, 0.41 and 0.55 in the age-adjusted model (Model 1) and 0.20, 0.52 and 0.55 in the weight-adjusted model (Model 2), respectively. The Heritability estimates for subsequent traits on carcass measures were 0.20, 0.38 and 0.54 in Model 1 and 0.23, 0.46 and 0.55 in Model 2, respectively. Genetic correlation estimate between LEMA and EMA was 0.81 and 0.79 in Model 1 and Model 2, respectively. Genetic correlation estimate between LBF and BF were high as 0.97 in Model 1 and 0.98 in Model 2. Real time ultrasonic marbling score were highly genetically correlated to carcass MS of 0.89 in Model 1 and 0.92 in Model 2. These results indicate that RTU scans would be alterative to carcass measurement for genetic evaluation of meat quality in a designed progeny-testing program in Korean beef cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2008

Four hundred and forty 1-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were fed commercial starter diets with 0, 250, 750 and 2,250 mg/kg of an alpha-amylase preparation from 1 to 21 days of age to investigate the effects of an exogenous enzyme on growth performance, activities of digestive enzymes in the pancreas and anterior intestinal contents and pancreatic amylase mRNA expression. Body weight gain (BWG) and average daily gain (ADG) increased linearly (p<0.01) with increasing levels of supplementary amylase but feed conversion ratio (FCR) was not affected. There was a negative quadratic change of protease and amylase in the small intestinal contents with the increase of supplementary amylase level. The activity of intestinal trypsin was also increased (p<0.05). Lipase was unaffected by amylase supplementation (p>0.05). The pancreatic protease, trypsin, and lipase were not affected by exogenous amylase levels. Consistent with the tendency for a linear depression of amylase activity, pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase mRNA was down-regulated by dietary amylase supplementation. The present study suggested that oral administration of exogenous amylase affected activities of intestinal enzymes and the production of pancreatic digestive enzymes in a dose-dependent manner.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1227-1232
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• 2008

Carcass characteristics data of Hanwoo (N = 1,084) were collected from two stations of the National Livestock Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), Korea and records from thirteen individual cow-calf operators were analyzed to estimate variance and covariance components and the effect of different slaughter endpoints. Carcass traits analyzed were cold carcass weight (CWT, kg), REA (rib eye area, cm2), back fat thickness (mm) and marbling score (1-7). Four different models were examined. All models included sex and contemporary group as fixed effects and the animal's direct genetic potential and environment as random effects. The first model fitted a linear covariate of age at slaughter. The second model fitted both linear and quadratic covariates of age at slaughter. The third model fitted a linear covariate of body weight at slaughter. The fourth model fitted both linear covariates of age at slaughter and body weight at slaughter. Variance components were estimated using the REML procedure with Gibb's sampler. Heritability estimate of CWT was in the range of 0.08-0.11 depending on the model applied. Heritability estimates of BF, REA and MS were in the ranges of 0.23-0.28, 0.19-0.26, and 0.44-0.45, respectively. Genetic correlations between CWT and BF, between CWT and REA, and between CWT and MS were in the ranges of -0.33 - -0.14, 0.73-0.84, and -0.01- 0.11, respectively. Genetic correlations between REA and BF, between MS and BF and between REA and MS were in the ranges of -0.82 ~ -0.72, 0.04~0.28 and -0.08 ~ -0.02, respectively. Variance and covariance components estimated varied by model with different slaughter endpoints. Body weight endpoint was more effective for direct selection in favor of yield traits and body weight endpoints affected more of the correlated response to selection for the traits of yield and quality of edible portion of beef.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.476-484
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for linear type traits, as well as milk yield (MY), fat yield (FY) and protein yield (PY) in 18,831 Holstein cows reared in 495 herds in Brazil. Restricted maximum likelihood with a bivariate model was used for estimation genetic parameters, including fixed effects of herd-year of classification, period of classification, classifier and stage of lactation for linear type traits and herd-year of calving, season of calving and lactation order effects for production traits. The age of cow at calving was fitted as a covariate (with linear and quadratic terms), common to both models. Heritability estimates varied from 0.09 to 0.38 for linear type traits and from 0.17 to 0.24 for production traits, indicating sufficient genetic variability to achieve genetic gain through selection. In general, estimates of genetic correlations between type and production traits were low, except for udder texture and angularity that showed positive genetic correlations (>0.29) with MY, FY, and PY. Udder depth had the highest negative genetic correlation (-0.30) with production traits. Selection for final score, commonly used by farmers as a practical selection tool to improve type traits, does not lead to significant improvements in production traits, thus the use of selection indices that consider both sets of traits (production and type) seems to be the most adequate to carry out genetic selection of animals in the Brazilian herd.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.106-115
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• 2018

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary standard ileal digestible (SID) valine:lysine ratios on performance, intestinal morphology, amino acids of liver and muscle, plasma indices and mRNA expression of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism enzymes. Methods: A total of 144 crossbred pigs (Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Large White) weaned at $28{\pm}4days$ of age ($8.79{\pm}0.02kg$ body weight) were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 diets formulated to provide SID valine:lysine ratios of 50%, 60%, 70%, or 80%. Each diet was fed to 6 pens of pigs with 6 pigs per pen (3 gilts and 3 barrows) for 28 days. Results: Average daily gain increased quadratically (p<0.05), the villous height of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum increased linearly (p<0.05) as the SID valine:lysine ratio increased. The concentrations of plasma ${\alpha}-keto$ isovaleric and valine increased linearly (p<0.05), plasma aspartate, asparagine and cysteine decreased (p<0.05) as the SID valine:lysine ratio increased. An increase in SID lysine:valine levels increased mRNA expression levels of mitochondrial BCAA transaminase and branched-chain ${\alpha}-keto$ acid dehydrogenase in the longissimus dorsi muscle (p<0.05). Conclusion: Using a quadratic model, a SID valine:lysine ratio of 68% was shown to maximize the growth of weaned pigs which is slightly higher than the level recommended by the National Research Council.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2017

Heat treatment of milk aims to inhibit the growth of microbes, extend the shelf-life of products and improve the quality of the products. Heat treatment also leads to denaturation of whey protein and the formation of whey protein-casein polymer, which has negative effects on milk product. Hence the milk heat treatment conditions should be controlled in milk processing. In this study, the denaturation degree of whey protein and the combination degree of whey protein and casein when undergoing heat treatment were also determined by using the Native-PAGE and SDS-PAGE analysis. The results showed that the denaturation degree of whey protein and the combination degree of whey protein with casein extended with the increase of the heat-treated temperature and time. The effects of the heat-treated temperature and heat-treated time on the denaturation degree of whey protein and on the combination degree of whey protein and casein were well described using the quadratic regression equation. The analysis strategy used in this study reveals an intuitive and effective measure of the denaturation degree of whey protein, and the changes of milk protein under different heat treatment conditions efficiently and accurately in the dairy industry. It can be of great significance for dairy product proteins following processing treatments applied for dairy product manufacturing.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.453-464
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• 2014

The current research was focused on the extracellular biosynthesis of bactericidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using cell-free supernatant of a local isolate previously identified as a novel Streptomyces aegyptia NEAE 102. The biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Streptomyces aegyptia NEAE 102 was quite fast and required far less time than previously published strains. The produced particles showed a single surface plasmon resonance peak at 400 nm by UV-Vis spectroscopy, which confirmed the presence of AgNPs. Response surface methodology was chosen to evaluate the effects of four process variables ($AgNO_3$ concentration, incubation period, pH levels, and inoculum size) on the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Streptomyces aegyptia NEAE 102. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the linear and quadratic effects of incubation period, initial pH, and inoculum size had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Streptomyces aegyptia NEAE 102. The maximum silver nanoparticles biosynthesis (2.5 OD, at 400 nm ) was achieved in runs number 5 and 14 under the conditions of 1 mM $AgNO_3$ (1-1.5% (v/v)), incubation period (72-96 h), initial pH (9-10), and inoculum size (2-4% (v/v)). An overall 4-fold increase in AgNPs biosynthesis was obtained as compared with that of unoptimized conditions. The biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized using UV-VIS spectrophotometer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, in addition to antimicrobial properties. The biosynthesized AgNPs significantly inhibited the growth of medically important pathogenic gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and yeast (Candida albicans).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.285-294
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• 2018

An experimental study has been carried out to analyze the effect of cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed and depth of cut) and tool nose radius on the surface roughness and the cutting force components during hard turning of the AISI 52100 (50 HRC) steel with a ceramic cutting tool. The tests have been conducted according to the methodology of planning experiments, based on an orthogonal plan of Taguchi (L27). By using the response surface methodology (RSM), the components of the cutting force and the roughness of the machined surface were modeled and the effects of the input parameters were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and RSM. The results show that the feed (f), the tool nose radius (r), the cutting speed (Vc), the interaction between feed and tool nose radius ($f{\times}r$) as well as that of the quadratic effect ($f^2$) all have significant effects on the surface roughness (Ra). The feed is the most influencing factor with a contribution of 47.31%. The components of the cutting force were strongly influenced by the depth of cut, followed by the advance with a lower degree. By comparing the experimental values with those predicted by the models of the cutting force components and the surface roughness, it appears that they are in very good correlation.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.139-160
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• 2015

The global performance of the 5MW OC4 semisubmersible floating wind turbine in random waves was numerically simulated by using the turbine-floater-mooring fully coupled and time-domain dynamic analysis program FAST-CHARM3D. There have been many papers regarding floating offshore wind turbines but the effects of second-order wave-body interactions on their global performance have rarely been studied. The second-order wave forces are actually small compared to the first-order wave forces, but its effect cannot be ignored when the natural frequencies of a floating system are outside the wave-frequency range. In the case of semi-submersible platform, second-order difference-frequency wave-diffraction forces and moments become important since surge/sway and pitch/roll natural frequencies are lower than those of typical incident waves. The computational effort related to the full second-order diffraction calculation is typically very heavy, so in many cases, the simplified approach called Newman's approximation or first-order-wave-force-only are used. However, it needs to be justified against more complete solutions with full QTF (quadratic transfer function), which is a main subject of the present study. The numerically simulated results for the 5MW OC4 semisubmersible floating wind turbine by FAST-CHARM3D are also extensively compared with the DeepCWind model test results by Technip/NREL/UMaine. The predicted motions and mooring tensions for two white-noise input-wave spectra agree well against the measure values. In this paper, the numerical static-offset and free-decay tests are also conducted to verify the system stiffness, damping, and natural frequencies against the experimental results. They also agree well to verify that the dynamic system modeling is correct to the details. The performance of the simplified approaches instead of using the full QTF are also tested.