Effect of stocking density on pig production

Numerous stressors such as environmental, nutritional, pathological or equipment related ones are operative in swine facilities. Among many factors, socking density increases social stress and influences pig performance. Many studies have reported that reducing space allowance could induce decreases in growth performance of pigs. In addition, high stocking density induces a behavioral problem and influences physiological stress during transport. Thus, the optimum stocking density has to be defined for improving pig production.Key words: Performance, pigs, stocking density, stress

Effects of various additives on antioxidant and antimicrobial effectiveness in emulsion-type sausages

We investigated the effects of rosemary extract (RE), α-tocopherol (AT) and chitosan (CH) added individually or in combination as compared with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) on microbiological parameters [total viable count (TVC), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), enterobacteria (ENB), pseudomonas bacteria (PSY)], pH and lipid oxidation of emulsion-type sausages stored for 28 days at 4°C. TVC, LAB, ENB, and PSY counts were significantly increased (P<0.05) in all treatments throughout the refrigerated storage. CH and its combination with either RE or AT, or BHA alone, had the minor antimicrobial effectiveness compared to individual use of RE or AT (P<0.05). However, there were no differences (P>0.05) in all microbial counts between AT and control groups during the whole storage period. Overall storage had a significant effect on lowering pH, but no influence of additives on pH values was detected, except for 2and 28 days of storage. During refrigerated storage, CH and its combination, or BHA in emulsion-type sausages was more effective in delaying lipid oxidation compared to RE and AT (P<0.05). In conclusion, this study showed the minimal antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of using CH and its combination or BHA alone in emulsion-type sausages rather than single antioxidant.Key words: Rosemary extract, α-tocopherol, chitosan, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), antioxidative effect, antimicrobial effect

Reduction of Activation Energy Barrier of Stone-Wales Transformation in Endohedral Metallofullerenes

We examine effects of encapsulated metal atoms inside a C$_{60}$ molecule on the activation energy barrier to the Stone-Wales transformation using {\it ab initio} calculations. The encapsulated metal atoms we study are K, Ca and La which nominally donate one, two and three electrons to the C$_{60}$ cage, respectively. We find that isomerization of the endohedral metallofullerene via the Stone-Wales transformation can occur more easily than that of the empty fullerene owing to the charge transfer. When K, Ca and La atoms are encapsulated inside the fullerene, the activation energy barriers are lowered by 0.30, 0.55 and 0.80 eV, respectively compared with that of the empty C$_{60}$ (7.16 eV). The lower activation energy barrier of the Stone-Wales transformation implies the higher probability of isomerization and coalescence of metallofullerenes, which require a series of Stone-Wales transformations.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Modification of the electronic structure in a carbon nanotube with the charge dopant encapsulation

We present the first-principles study of effects of the charge dopants such as Cesium and Iodine encapsulated on the electronic structure of carbon nanotubes. An encapsulated cesium atom donates an electron to the nanotube and produces donor-like states below the conduction bands. In contrast, an iodine trimer (I$_{3}$) accepts an electron from the nanotube and produces an acceptor-like state above the valance band maximum. We find that a Cs atom inside a metallic armchair carbon nanotube gives rise to spatial oscillations of the density of states near the Fermi level.Comment: Applied Physics Letters (in press), 3 color figure

Pontin functions as an essential coactivator for Oct4-dependent lincRNA expression in mouse embryonic stem cells

The actions of transcription factors, chromatin modifiers and noncoding RNAs are crucial for the programming of cell states. Although the importance of various epigenetic machineries for controlling pluripotency of embryonic stem (ES) cells has been previously studied, how chromatin modifiers cooperate with specific transcription factors still remains largely elusive. Here, we find that Pontin chromatin remodelling factor plays an essential role as a coactivator for Oct4 for maintenance of pluripotency in mouse ES cells. Genome-wide analyses reveal that Pontin and Oct4 share a substantial set of target genes involved in ES cell maintenance. Intriguingly, we find that the Oct4-dependent coactivator function of Pontin extends to the transcription of large intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) and in particular linc1253, a lineage programme repressing lincRNA, is a Pontin-dependent Oct4 target lincRNA. Together, our findings demonstrate that the Oct4-Pontin module plays critical roles in the regulation of genes involved in ES cell fate determination.111311Ysciescopu

Transcriptional activation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) in myeloid cells promotes angiogenesis through VEGF and S100A8

Emerging evidence indicates that myeloid cells are essential for promoting new blood vessel formation by secreting various angiogenic factors. Given that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a critical regulator for angiogenesis, we questioned whether HIF in myeloid cells also plays a role in promoting angiogenesis. To address this question, we generated a unique strain of myeloid-specific knockout mice targeting HIF pathways using human S100A8 as a myeloid-specific promoter. We observed that mutant mice where HIF-1 is transcriptionally activated in myeloid cells (by deletion of the von Hippel-Lindau gene) resulted in erythema, enhanced neovascularization in matrigel plugs, and increased production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the bone marrow, all of which were completely abrogated by either genetic or pharmacological inactivation of HIF-1. We further found that monocytes were the major effector producing VEGF and S100A8 proteins driving neovascularization in matrigel. Moreover, by using a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia we observed significantly improved blood flow in mice intramuscularly injected with HIF-1-activated monocytes. This study therefore demonstrates that HIF-1 activation in myeloid cells promotes angiogenesis through VEGF and S100A8 and that this may become an attractive therapeutic strategy to treat diseases with vascular defects.X1137Ysciescopu

Effect of Genetically Modified Organisms Feed Ingredients (Corn And Soybean) in Diet on Egg Production, Egg Broken Rate and Egg Quality in Layers

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to examine the effect of feeding genetically modified organisms (GMO) compared with non - GMO diet on performance of layers in terms of egg production, egg broken rate and egg quality in laying hen. One hundred and ninety-two Hy-line brown laying hens were used in the feeding for four weeks. All the birds were randomly assigned into two dietary treatments groups, each with eight replicates (12 hens/ replicate). Significant difference was not found in egg production in layers fed GMO feed in diet compared with the non - GMO treatment. Whereas in terms of egg quality, a significant increase was observed in yolk color and eggshell thickness of layers fed GMO diet compared with layers fed non-GMO diet at 1st week. Additionally, there was a significant increase in eggshell thickness of layers fed GMO diet compared with layers fed non - GMO diet at 2nd, and 4th week. Layers fed GMO diet showed higher egg yolk value compared to the non-GMO diet in 1st week. However, no significant differences were found in other profiles such as egg quality including egg weight, albumen height, haugh units, shell color, and shell strength from 1st to 4th week since layers fed GMO. In conclusion, layers fed GMO diet showed significant improvement in eggshell thickness and yolk color and no significant difference was found in egg production. Layers fed GMO diets may enhance the egg quality, and further research need to be done