Optimization of Canola Co-Product Utilization in Swine

Canola co-products have a high content of fiber and glucosinolates. Fiber reduces nutrient utilization in pigs, whereas glucosinolates are degraded to toxic products, which interfere with liver, kidney and thyroid functions. Negative effects of fiber can potentially be alleviated by fiber-degrading enzymes, whereas negative effects of glucosinolates in pigs can potentially be alleviated through reduction in hindgut pH. However, there is a lack of information on effects of supplemental fiberdegrading enzymes on digestion and fermentation characteristics of canola coproducts for pigs. Also, there is limited information on effects of reducing hindgut pH on toxicity of glucosinolates in pigs. Four experiments were conducted to fill these gaps in knowledge. The first experiment investigated effects of supplementing canola co-products with fiber-degrading enzymes on porcine in vitro digestion and fermentation of canola co-products. Supplemental fiber-degrading enzymes increased in vitro digestibility of canola co-products. The second experiment investigated effects of increasing levels of cold-pressed canola cake (CPCC) in diets for pigs from 0 to 40% on growth performance, organ weights, blood thyroid hormone levels. Growth performance, metabolic activity in liver and thyroid functions were negatively affected by dietary inclusion of CPCC at 40%. The third experiment investigated effects of reducing hindgut pH through dietary inclusion of high-amylose cornstarch (HA-starch) on the fore-mentioned response criteria and cecal concentration of glucosinolate degradation products in pigs fed diets that contained 40% CPCC. Dietary CPCC increased thyroid gland weight of pigs fed HA-starch-free diet, but not of pigs fed HA-starch-containing diet. Inclusion of HA-starch in CPCC-based diets increased isothiocyanate production in cecal digesta of pigs. However, nitriles were undetected in cecal digesta of pigs fed CPCC-based diets. Thus, the fourth experiment was conducted to determine effects of reducing pH on composition of glucosinolate degradation products in canola co-products using porcine in vitro fermentation technique. Reduction in fermentation medium pH from 6.2 to 5.2 increased production of indole- 3-acetonitriles. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that fiber-degrading enzymes can be supplemented to canola co-products-based diets for pigs to improve efficiency of nutrient utilization and that toxicity of canola glucosinolates can be alleviated through reduction in pH of hindgut of pigs

Evaluation of corn germ and DDGS in diets fed to pigs

Two experiments were conducted to determine effects of inclusion of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn germ to diets fed to growing-finishing pigs on pig growth performance, carcass composition, and pork fat quality. The first experiment was conducted to investigate if negative impacts of DDGS on carcass fat quality may be ameliorated by addition of corn germ, tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol to growing-finishing pig diets. The second experiment was conducted to determine the optimal inclusion rate of corn germ in growing-finishing pig diets that contained 0 or 30% DDGS. In Exp 1, a total of 36 gilts and 36 barrows (initial BW: 43.7 ?? 2.0 kg) were randomly allotted to 1 of 6 dietary treatments and housed individually. A corn-soybean meal control diet and a corn-soybean meal diet containing 30% DDGS were formulated. Four additional DDGS based diets containing 15% corn germ, 3% tallow, 3% palm kernel oil, or 5% glycerol were also formulated. There were no differences among diets in ADG, ADFI, or G:F of the pigs. However, gilts had less (P < 0.05) ADG and ADFI and greater (P < 0.05) G:F than barrows. Most carcass characteristics were not affected by dietary treatments, but pigs fed diets containing the control diet had greater (P < 0.05) loin eye area compared with pigs fed the DDGS diet. It was observed that BW, HCW, and back fat thickness were greater (P < 0.05) for barrows than for gilts, but fat free lean percentage was greater (P < 0.05) for gilts than for barrows. There were no dietary effects on loin muscle quality, but barrows had greater (P < 0.05) marbling and 24-h loin pH than gilts. Belly quality was not influenced by dietary treatments, but gilts had lighter (P < 0.05) bellies than barrows. Belly flop distance was greater (P < 0.05) for pigs fed the control diet than for pigs fed the 5 DDGS-containing diets. However, there were no differences among pigs fed the DDGS diets. Belly flop distance was greater (P < 0.05) for barrows than for gilts. There was a tendency (P = 0.07) for gilts to have greater backfat iodine value (IV) and greater (P = 0.05) belly fat IV than barrows. It was concluded that inclusion of corn germ, tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol to growing-finishing diets did not ameliorate the negative effects of DDGS on carcass fat quality. In Exp 2, a total of 280 pigs (initial BW: 42.5 ?? 4.6 kg) were randomly allotted to 1 of 8 dietary treatments in a 2 ?? 4 factorial design with 2 levels of DDGS (0 or 30%) and 4 levels of corn germ (0, 10, 20, or 30%). Each diet was fed to 10 pens and either 3 or 4 pigs were housed in each pen. The pig from each pen that had a BW closest to the average BW for the pen was harvested at the conclusion of the experiment. Inclusion of corn germ to the diet did not affect pig growth performance regardless of the inclusion rate of DDGS, but ADG, ADFI, and final BW were reduced (P < 0.05) by inclusion of 30% DDGS to the diet. Carcass composition, muscle quality, and fat quality were not affected by inclusion of corn germ to the diets, but there was a reduction in LM marbling and firmness by inclusion of DDGS in the diets (P < 0.05). The L* value for back fat was reduced (P < 0.05) by inclusion of DDGS in the diet, but corn germ did not influence back fat color measures. Belly flop distance was reduced (linear, P < 0.001) as corn germ was added to diets containing no DDGS, but belly flop distance was not affected by inclusion of corn germ to diets containing 30% DDGS. However, there was a reduction (P < 0.001) in belly flop distance for pigs fed diets containing DDGS. It was concluded that pig growth performance, carcass composition, and muscle quality were not negatively affected by addition of up to 30% corn germ to diets containing 0 or 30% DDGS, but there was a reduction in belly firmness by inclusion of corn germ in diets containing no DDGS

Heterogeneous Investors and their Changing Demand and Supply Schedules for Individual Common Stocks

Using 550 million limit orders submitted in the Korea Stock Exchange, we estimate demand and supply elasticities of heterogeneous investor types and their changes around the Asian financial crisis. We find that domestic individuals have substantially more inelastic demand and supply curves than domestic institutions and foreign investors. The crisis permanently reduced price elasticities of domestic individuals by 50% but had no effect on those of foreign investors. Institutional changes restricting margin purchases, implemented after the crisis, seem particularly important in explaining the dramatic drop. Information heterogeneity, availability of close substitutes and arbitrage risk also explain time-series variations in elasticities.

Spin polarization amplification within nonmagnetic semiconductors at room temperature

We demonstrate theoretically that the spin polarization of current can be electrically amplified within nonmagnetic semiconductors by exploiting the fact the spin current, compared to the charge current, is weakly perturbed by electric driving forces. As a specific example, we consider a T-shaped current branching geometry made entirely of a nonmagnetic semiconductor, where the current is injected into one of the branches (input branch) and splits into the other two branches (output branches). We show that when the input current has a moderate spin polarization, the spin polarization in one of the output branches can be higher than the spin polarization in the input branch and may reach 100% when the relative magnitudes of current-driving electric fields in the two output branches are properly tuned. The proposed amplification scheme does not use ferromagnets or magnetic fields, and does not require low temperature operation, providing an efficient way to generate a highly spin polarized current in nonmagnetic semiconductors at room temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Heterogeneous Investors and their Changing Demand and Supply Schedules for Individual Common Stocks

Using 550 million limit orders submitted in the Korea Stock Exchange, we estimate demand and supply elasticities of heterogeneous investor types and their changes around the Asian financial crisis. We find that domestic individuals have substantially more inelastic demand and supply curves than domestic institutions and foreign investors. The crisis permanently reduced price elasticities of domestic individuals by 50% but had no effect on those of foreign investors. Institutional changes restricting margin purchases, implemented after the crisis, seem particularly important in explaining the dramatic drop. Information heterogeneity, availability of close substitutes and arbitrage risk also explain time-series variations in elasticities.

Current-induced domain wall motion in a nanowire with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We study theoretically the current-induced magnetic domain wall motion in a metallic nanowire with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The anisotropy can reduce the critical current density of the domain wall motion. We explain the reduction mechanism and identify the maximal reduction conditions. This result facilitates both fundamental studies and device applications of the current- induced domain wall motion

Patterns of Comovement: The Role of Information Technology in the U.S. Economy

Firm-specific variation in stock returns and fundamental performance measures is significantly higher in industries that have a history of more investment in information technology (IT). We hypothesise that IT is associated with creative destruction or product differentiation, either of which can widen the performance difference between winner and loser firms. Thus, economy-level volatility can fall while firm-level volatility rises because firm-specific volatility cancels out in the aggregate. Our results are consistent with rising firm-specific variation in US stocks reflecting a rising pace of creative destruction; and with greater firm-specific variation in richer and faster growing countries reflecting more intensive creative destruction in those economies, though other explanations are probably valid as well.

Current-Induced Magnetic Domain-Wall Motion by Spin Transfer Torque: Collective Coordinate Approach with Domain-Wall Width Variation

The spin transfer torque generated by a spin-polarized current can induce the shift of the magnetic domain-wall position. In this work, we study theoretically the current-induced domain-wall motion by using the collective coordinate approach [Gen Tatara and Hiroshi Kohno, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 86601 (2004)]. The approach is extended to include not only the domain-wall position and the polarization angle changes but also the domain-wall width variation. It is demonstrated that the width variation affects the critical current.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Information sources cited and relayed in political conversations on Twitter

Using the Twitter data collected prior to the Presidential Election in Korea in 2012, we ask questions regarding influential sources of information in public political discourse. The frequently cited sources, being included as URLs in political tweet messages, are identified and categorized. The result shows that people rely on various sources of information beyond the traditional news media, but the pattern of sharing differ by sources