Influence of chromium source on plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentrations in growing-finishing pigs

A total of 150 pigs (PIC, initial body weight 178.9 ± 14.7 lb) were used in a 35-d study to evaluate the effect of chromium propionate and chromium tripicolinate on plasma non-esterifed fatty acids (NEFA) in growing-finishing pigs. Our objective was to determine if differences between sources and rate of source being fed can be detected in fasted growing-finishing pigs by measuring plasma NEFA. Pigs were randomly allotted to one of the five dietary treatments arranged as a 2 × 2 factorial plus negative control (no chromium). Main effects were source of chromium (chromium propionate and chromium tripicolinate) and chromium concentration (100 or 200 ppb). On d 34, feeders were removed from pens 16 h before collecting blood on d 35 for analysis of plasma NEFA. There were no interactions (P>0.10) observed for chromium source, rate, or gender. There was no effect observed (P>0.10) of chromium source or rate on ADG, ADFI, or F/G. There was no chromium-source effect (P>0.73) observed for NEFA, but there was a tendency (quadratic, P>0.08) for plasma NEFA to decrease in pigs fed 100 ppb chromium tripicolinate and to increase in the pigs fed 200 ppb tripicolinate

Gauge Coupling Unification from Unified Theories in Higher Dimensions

Higher dimensional grand unified theories, with gauge symmetry breaking by orbifold compactification, possess SU(5) breaking at fixed points, and do not automatically lead to tree-level gauge coupling unification. A new framework is introduced that guarantees precise unification -- even the leading loop threshold corrections are predicted, although they are model dependent. Precise agreement with the experimental result, \alpha_s^{exp} = 0.117 \pm 0.002, occurs only for a unique theory, and gives \alpha_s^{KK} = 0.118 \pm 0.004 \pm 0.003. Remarkably, this unique theory is also the simplest, with SU(5) gauge interactions and two Higgs hypermultiplets propagating in a single extra dimension. This result is more successful and precise than that obtained from conventional supersymmetric grand unification, \alpha_s^{SGUT} = 0.130 \pm 0.004 \pm \Delta_{SGUT}. There is a simultaneous solution to the three outstanding problems of 4D supersymmetric grand unified theories: a large mass splitting between Higgs doublets and their color triplet partners is forced, proton decay via dimension five operators is automatically forbidden, and the absence of fermion mass relations amongst light quarks and leptons is guaranteed, while preserving the successful m_b/m_\tau relation. The theory necessarily has a strongly coupled top quark located on a fixed point and part of the lightest generation propagating in the bulk. The string and compactification scales are determined to be around 10^{17} GeV and 10^{15} GeV, respectively.Comment: 29 pages, LaTe

Determination of the apparent and true ileal amino acid digestibility and digestible and metabolizable energy of specialty protein sources intended for nursery pig diets

Two experiments were conducted to determine the apparent and true-ileal amino acid digestibility, and to determine the digestible energy and metabolizable energy values of rice protein concentrate, salmon protein hydrolysate, whey protein concentrate, and spray-dried animal plasma. The experimental ingredients were analyzed for essential and non-essential amino acids and crude protein so diets could be formulated. In Exp.1, pigs were fed each diet, and ileal digesta was collected and analyzed. Apparent and true digestibilities were then calculated. In Exp. 2, pigs were fed each diet and feces were collected, weighed, and sampled. Lab analyses were conducted for the determination of gross energy (GE) and digestible energy (DE). Then ME values were determined by calculation from the DE and CP concentrations of experimental diets. In Exp. 1, TID lysine, methionine, and threonine values were 86.6, 69.0, and 78.9% for rice protein concentrate; 89.7, 88.7, and 80.2% for salmon protein hydrolysate; 95.7, 93.9, and 88.4% for whey protein concentrate; and 95.4, 93.5, and 92.2% for spray-dried animal plasma, respectively. In Exp. 2, DE values for rice protein concentrate, salmon protein hydrolysate, whey protein concentrate, and spray-dried animal plasma were 2143, 1893, 2245, and 2062 kcal/lb, respectively. The ME values that were determined for the protein products were 1917, 1598, 1974, and 1805 kcal/lb, respectively

Effects of paylean (ractopamine⋅HCl) on finishing pig growth and variation

A total of 336 pigs were used in a 21-day trial to determine the effect of Paylean (9.0 g/ton Ractopamine·HCl) on finishing pig growth and variation. Pigs were allotted based on weight so that all pens had the same initial weight and degree of variation within the pen. Pigs fed Paylean had greater ADG and better feed efficiency than control-fed pigs (P<0.05). However, no differences in pen coefficient of variation were observed (P>0.70). The results suggest that adding Paylean to the diet improves finishing pig growth performance but does not affect weight variation within the pen

Evaluation of hemicell® on growth performance of late nursery pigs

A total of 276 pigs (initially 21.9 lb) was used to determine the effects of added Hemicell® on growth performance. Hemicell® is a patented fermentation product of Bacillus lentus. The active ingredient in the fermentation product is β-mannanase. However, other enzymes such as amylase, xylanase, cellulases, and α-galactosidase also are present. It is claimed that Hemicell® degrades β-mannan in feed, thus, removing its effects as an antinutritive factor in swine diets. Dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 x 3 factorial, with or without 0.05% Hemicell®, in diets with 3 levels of energy density (1,388, 1,488, 1,588 ME, kcal/lb). The 100 kcal increments were achieved by the addition of wheat bran or soy oil to a corn-soybean meal based diet. The addition of Hemicell® to the diets, regardless of energy level, did not lead to an improvement in growth performance in these late nursery pigs. Increasing energy density of the diet, however, resulted in an improved ADG and F/G

Evaluation of different soy protein concentrate sources on growth performance of weanling pigs

Three experiments were conducted using 486 weanling pigs (216 in Experiment 1; 210 in Experiment 2; 60 in Experiment 3) to determine the effects of different soy protein concentrate (SPC) sources on growth performance. Soy protein concentrate source 1 is dried with a torus disk following the concentration of soy proteins. This drying procedure will generate some degree of heat and possibly mechanical forces somewhat similar to extrusion processing (Soycomil P®, ADM). Soy protein concentrate source 2 is dried by a different process, and then it is moist extruded (Profine E, Central Soya). Therefore, the objective of our study was to determine the relative feeding value of the different SPC sources compared with a complex diet containing milk and other specialty proteins (no soy protein), or a diet containing 40% soybean meal. In Experiment 1, each SPC source (28.6%) replaced all the soybean meal (SBM) in the control diet on a lysine basis. Pigs fed the diet containing 40% SBM had similar performance to pigs fed the milk-protein based diet from d 0 to 14. Pigs fed either SPC source had lower ADG and ADFI compared to pigs fed either the diet containing 40% SBM or the milkprotein based diet. Pigs fed the diet containing 40% SBM and SPC from source 2 had better F/G than pigs fed the milk-protein based diet or SPC from source 1. In Experiment 2, either all or half of the soybean meal was replaced by the 28.6 or 14.3% SPC from source 1 and 2. From d 0 to 14 and d 0 to 28, an SPC source by level interaction was observed for ADG (P<0.01) and ADFI (P<0.07). Replacing soybean meal with SPC from source 1 did not influence pig performance. However, replacing soybean meal with SPC from source 2 resulted in a quadratic (P<0.05) improvement in ADG with performance being improved for the diet containing 14.3% SPC, but no benefit to replacing all the soybean meal with SPC. Replacing soybean meal with SPC from either source influenced feed efficiency in a quadratic (P<0.01) manner with feed efficiency being optimal for pigs consuming the diet with half the soybean meal replaced by SPC. Because replacing all of the soybean meal with SPC reduced ADFI in Experiments 1 and 2, we hypothesized that pigs may not prefer the taste of a diet with a high inclusion rate of SPC (28.6%). To test this theory, a 7-day preference test was conducted to determine feed intake of weanling pigs provided the option of consuming diets containing either 40% soybean meal or 28.6% SPC (from source 2). Average daily feed intake was 0.41 and 0.01 lb for the 40% soybean meal and 28.6% soy protein concentrate diets, respectively (P<0.0001). The poor intake of the SPC diet may indicate a palatability problem when high levels of SPC are included in the diet. Our results suggest replacing a portion of the soybean meal in the diet with SPC from source 2 improves ADG and feed efficiency; however, high levels (28.6%) of SPC should not be included in the diet

Effect of an Internal Rotational Nonlinear Attachment on the Vortex-Induced Vibration of a Rigid Circular Cylinder in a Subcritical Incompressible Flow

“Vortex-induced vibration” (VIV) of a sprung cylinder is a familiar fluid-structure interaction phenomenon occurring over a wide range of flow Reynolds number (Re). From a dynamical systems perspective, at critical Reynolds number (Rec), the fixed point of the wake oscillator loses its stability resulting in limit-cycle oscillation, which is a well known supercritical Hopf bifurcation. In this paper, we discuss the relation between the critical Reynolds number (Rec) for the Hopf bifurcation and the stiffness of the cylinder for a sprung rigid circular cylinder. In addition, we introduce a rotational “nonlinear energy sink” (NES) into the system and study its effect on Rec in subcritical flow regime.Ope

A Constrained Standard Model from a Compact Extra Dimension

A SU(3) \times SU(2) \times U(1) supersymmetric theory is constructed with a TeV sized extra dimension compactified on the orbifold S^1/(Z_2 \times Z_2'). The compactification breaks supersymmetry leaving a set of zero modes which correspond precisely to the states of the 1 Higgs doublet standard model. Supersymmetric Yukawa interactions are localized at orbifold fixed points. The top quark hypermultiplet radiatively triggers electroweak symmetry breaking, yielding a Higgs potential which is finite and exponentially insensitive to physics above the compactification scale. This potential depends on only a single free parameter, the compactification scale, yielding a Higgs mass prediction of 127 \pm 8 GeV. The masses of the all superpartners, and the Kaluza-Klein excitations are also predicted. The lightest supersymmetric particle is a top squark of mass 197 \pm 20 GeV. The top Kaluza-Klein tower leads to the \rho parameter having quadratic sensitivity to unknown physics in the ultraviolet.Comment: 31 pages, Latex, 2 eps figures, minor correction

Performance Issues in U.S.–China Joint Ventures

Based on an in-depth study of U.S.-China joint ventures, this article offers some insights into the performance of such international business relationships. While the conventional literature treats government as an amorphous aspea of the political-legal environment, in this case government is an active participant and influence in the performance of international joint ventures (UVs). It has both a constraining and enabling effect on LJV structure, strategy, and performance. For example, limits can be placed on ownership shares of joint ventures and on prices of the output. At the same time, government can cooperate with LJVs and foreign parent companies by creating partners for foreign parent companies, acting as major customers, and improving financial performance by lowering taxes