Effects of Partial or Total Replacement of Maize with Alternative Feed Source on Digestibility, Growth Performance, Blood Metabolites and Economics in Limousin Crossbred Cattle

Shi, F.H.,Fang, L.,Meng, Q.X.,Wu, H.,Du, J.P.,Xie, X.X.,Ren, L.P.,Zhou, Z.M.,Zhou, B. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.10

Increasing cost and scarcity of maize has stimulated the use of alternative feed sources (AFS) in the diets of cattle. In this study, we investigated the effects of partial or total replacement of maize on nutrient digestibility, growth performance, blood metabolites, and economics in Limousin crossbred feedlot cattle. Forty-five $Limousin{\times}Luxi$ crossbred bulls were randomly assigned to the three treatment groups, orthodox diet (OD; 45.0% maize), partial replacement diet (PRD; 15% maize, 67% AFS), total replacement diet (TRD; 0% maize, 100% AFS). The growth feeding trial lasted for 98 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG) were recorded. The digestion trial was carried out after the end of the growth trial. Total faeces and feed samples were measured daily. Digestibilities of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were calculated. After the feeding trial, blood metabolites were measured in 12 animals from each group. Initial and final body weights did not differ significantly among treatment groups (p>0.05). The ADG and DMI were 1.72 and 8.66, 1.60 and 9.10, and 1.40 and 9.11 kg/d for OD, PRD, and TRD, respectively. The PRD and TRD exhibited lower ADG (p<0.01) and higher DMI (p<0.01) than OD. The DMI (%body weight) was comparable between groups (p>0.5). Feed efficiency of PRD and TRD were lower than OD (p<0.01). The DM digestibility decreased with reduced level of maize (p = 0.10), OM digestibility was higher in OD (p<0.05), and CP, NDF and ADF digestibilities were similar for all groups (p>0.05). Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL) in PRD and TRD was higher than OD (p<0.01), while other blood parameters did not differ significantly. Feed costs ($/head/d) were 1.49, 0.98, and 0.72 for OD, PRD, and TRD, respectively (p<0.01). Feed costs per kg gain ($) were significantly lower for PRD (0.63) and TRD (0.54) than OD (0.89; p<0.01). Overall profit ($/head) and daily profit ($/head/d) did not differ significantly between treatments (p>0.05), although TRD showed the highest economic benefits overall (p<0.01). While a traditional diet maximized the growth rate, partial or total replacement of dietary maize with AFS proved economically feasible due to their lower costs and comparable nutrient digestibilities of DM, CP, NDF, and ADF. Partial replacement may prove economically competitive in the current situation of China.

Effectiveness of Different Promoters in Adeno-associated Virus Vectors for Expression of Genes in Oral Cancer Cells

Shillitoe, E.J.,Hermonat, P.L.,Noonan, S.,Shi, B. Korean Academy of Oral Biology and the UCLA Dental 2001 International Journal of Oral Biology Vol.26 No.1

The p5 and p40 promoters of the human adeno-associated virus (AAV) were tested for ability to promote expression of either the lacZ marker gene or the thymidine kinase (TK) suicide gene in human oral cancer cells. For comparison, the early gene promoter of the SV40 virus and the immediate-early promoter of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) were used. In the oral cancer cell line Tu183 the highest levels of expression of the marker gene was obtained from the CMV promoter. Lower levels were seen from the SV40 promoter and lower still from the p5 and p40 promoters. Nonetheless, both p5 and p40 were sufficiently active to produce a toxic level of expression of the TK suicide gene, with the p5 promoter being extremely effective. Testing in neuroblastoma cells revealed that the p5 and p40 promoters were less cancer-specific than the other promoters. Neither adenovirus nor hydroxyurea increased the expression from any promoter. The results imply that 1) the promoters of AAV could be used in gene therapy of human squamous cell carcinomas for expression of toxic drugs or other purposes, 2) the presence of DNA-damaging agents should not be expected to enhance the effects of the promoters, and 3) no specificity for oral cancer cells may be expected.

Effects of Bedding Material Composition in Deep Litter Systems on Bedding Characteristics and Growth Performance of Limousin Calves

Meng, J.,Shi, F.H.,Meng, Qingxiang,Ren, L.P.,Zhou, Z.M.,Wu, H.,Zhao, L.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.1

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different litter mixture compositions on bedding system temperature, pH and volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N ($NH_3$-N) content, and the serum physico-chemical parameters and growth indices of calves. Thirty-two Limousin calves ($280{\pm}20kg$) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8 for each group) according to the bedding system used: i) control with soil only (CTR); ii) mixture with 50% paddy hulls (PH), 30% saw dusts (SD), 10% peat moss (PM) and 10% corn cobs (CC) (TRT1); iii) mixture with 15% PH, 15% SD, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% corn stover (CS) (TRT2); iv) mixture with 30% PH, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% CS (TRT3). The litter material combinations of different treatments were based on the cost of bedding system materials in China. The cost of four treatments from low to high: Control<TRT1<TRT2<TRT3. The control was no-cost treatment. The diet consisted of 60.8% silage and 39.2% concentrate (dry matter [DM] basis). The $NH_3$-N level (271.83 to 894.72 mg/kg) was lowest for TRT1 (p<0.0001) and highest for TRT2 (p<0.0001). The acetate, propionate and butyrate levels were highest for the control group (p<0.0001). In all the groups, the pH value (6.90 to 9.09) increased at the beginning and later remained stable at below 9.09. The temperature of deep litter increased at the first week and reached the maximum ($42.1^{\circ}C$) on day 38. 3,5,3'-Triiodothyronine ($T_3$) levels in the TRT1 group animals (p<0.0001) were lower than those in the control and TRT2 animals. 3,5,3',5'-Tetraiodothyronine ($T_4$) in the TRT1 group (p = 0.006) was lower than that in the other treatment groups. Cortisol (COR) in the control and TRT1 group was lower (p<0.0001) than that in the TRT2 and TRT3 groups. Corticosterone (CORt) in the control group was higher (p<0.0001) than that in the treatment groups. The findings indicate that the deep litter bedding systems provided better conditions for animal health and growth performance compared with the control system. Furthermore, the litter composition of TRT1 was found to be optimal among the three treatment groups.

Effects of Bedding Material Composition in Deep Litter Systems on Bedding Characteristics and Growth Performance of Limousin Calves

J. Meng,F.H. Shi,Q.X. Meng,L.P. Ren,Z.M. Zhou,H. Wu,L.P. Zhao 아세아·태평양축산학회 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.1

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different litter mixture compositions on bedding system temperature, pH and volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N (NH3-N) content, and the serum physico-chemical parameters and growth indices of calves. Thirty-two Limousin calves (280±20 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8 for each group) according to the bedding system used: i) control with soil only (CTR); ii) mixture with 50% paddy hulls (PH), 30% saw dusts (SD), 10% peat moss (PM) and 10% corn cobs (CC) (TRT1); iii) mixture with 15% PH, 15% SD, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% corn stover (CS) (TRT2); iv) mixture with 30% PH, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% CS (TRT3). The litter material combinations of different treatments were based on the cost of bedding system materials in China. The cost of four treatments from low to high: Control<TRT1<TRT2<TRT3. The control was no-cost treatment. The diet consisted of 60.8% silage and 39.2% concentrate (dry matter [DM] basis). The NH3-N level (271.83 to 894.72 mg/kg) was lowest for TRT1 (p<0.0001) and highest for TRT2 (p<0.0001). The acetate, propionate and butyrate levels were highest for the control group (p<0.0001). In all the groups, the pH value (6.90 to 9.09) increased at the beginning and later remained stable at below 9.09. The temperature of deep litter increased at the first week and reached the maximum (42.1°C) on day 38. 3,5,3′-Triiodothyronine (T3) levels in the TRT1 group animals (p<0.0001) were lower than those in the control and TRT2 animals. 3,5,3′,5′-Tetraiodothyronine (T4) in the TRT1 group (p = 0.006) was lower than that in the other treatment groups. Cortisol (COR) in the control and TRT1 group was lower (p<0.0001) than that in the TRT2 and TRT3 groups. Corticosterone (CORt) in the control group was higher (p<0.0001) than that in the treatment groups. The findings indicate that the deep litter bedding systems provided better conditions for animal health and growth performance compared with the control system. Furthermore, the litter composition of TRT1 was found to be optimal among the three treatment groups.

Effects of Dietary Chromium Methionine on Growth Performance, Carcass Composition, Meat Colour and Expression of the Colour-related Gene Myoglobin of Growing-finishing Pigs

Li, Y.S.,Zhu, N.H.,Niu, P.P.,Shi, F.X.,Hughes, C.L.,Tian, G.X.,Huang, R.H. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2013 Animal Bioscience Vol.26 No.7

To investigate the effect of dietary chromium (Cr) as Cr methionine (CrMet) on growth performance, carcass traits, pork quality, meat colour and expression of meat colour-related genes in growing-finishing pigs, 189 crossbred Duroc${\times}$(Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) growing-finishing pigs (male, castrated, average initial BW $74.58{\pm}1.52$ kg) were selected and randomly allocated into four groups. Dietary treatments per kg of feed were as follows: 0 (CT), 0.3 mg/kg (T1), 0.6 mg/kg (T2) and 0.9 mg/kg (T3) Cr (in the form of CrMet; as-fed basis), and each treatment was replicated five times with 8 to 10 pigs per replicate pen. During the 28 d of the experiment, both the ADG and the ADFI increased linearly (p<0.05) as the level of dietary Cr increased. The F/G ratio decreased linearly (p<0.05). As dietary Cr increased, loin muscle areas (linear, p = 0.013) and average backfat thickness (linear, p = 0.072) decreased. Shear force (linear, p = 0.070) and Commission Internationale de I'$\acute{E}$clairage (CIE) redness (quadratic, p = 0.028) were increased. In addition, CIE Lightness (quadratic, p = 0.053) were decreased as dietary Cr increased. As dietary Cr increased, total myglobin (Mb) content (quadratic, p = 0.015) and the mb mRNA levels (quadratic, p = 0.046) in longissimus muscles of pigs were up-regulated. In conclusion, supplementation of dietary Cr improved growth and meat colour, but increased shear force and decreased IMF reduced palatability of longissimus muscles. Moreover, the increasing total Mb content and mb mRNA levels indicated that CrMet dietary supplementation may improve meat colour via up-regulating expression of the mb gene.

A single institution experience with robotic and laparoscopic distal pancreatectomies

Shi Qing Lee,Tousif Kabir,Ye-Xin Koh,Jin-Yao Teo,Ser-Yee Lee,Juinn-Huar Kam,Peng-Chung Cheow,Prema Raj Jeyaraj,Pierce K. H. Chow,London L. Ooi,Alexander Y. F. Chung,Chung-Yip Chan,Brian K. P. Goh 한국간담췌외과학회 2020 Annals of hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery Vol.24 No.3

Backgrounds/Aims: This study aims to describe our experience with minimally-invasive distal pancreatectomies, with emphasis on the comparison between robotic distal pancreatectomy (RDP) and laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP). Methods: Retrospective review of 102 consecutive RDP and LDP from 2006 to 2019 was performed. Results: There were 27 and 75 patients who underwent RDP and LDP, respectively. There were 12 (11.8%) open conversions and 16 (15.7%) patients had major (>grade 2) morbidities. Patients who underwent RDP had significantly higher rates of splenic preservation (44.4% vs. 13.3%, p=0.002), higher rates of splenic-vessel preservation (40.7% vs. 9.3%, p=0.001), higher median difficulty score (5 vs. 3, p=0.002) but longer operation time (385 vs. 245 minutes, p<0.001). The rate of open conversion tended to be lower with RDP (3.7% vs. 14.7%, p=0.175). Conclusions: In our institution practice, both RDP and LDP were safe and effective. The use of RDP appeared to be complementary to LDP, allowing us to perform more difficult procedures with comparable postoperative outcomes.

Toroidal rotation profile structure in KSTAR L-mode plasmas with mixed heating by NBI and ECH

Shi, Y.J.,Ko, S.H.,Kwon, J.M.,Ko, W.H.,Diamond, P.H.,Yi, S.,Ida, K.,Lee, K.D.,Jeong, J.H.,Seo, S.H.,Hahn, S.H.,Yoon, S.W.,Bae, Y.S.,Terzolo, L.,Yun, G.S.,Bitter, M.,Hill, K. IOP 2016 Nuclear fusion Vol.56 No.1

<P>The structure of the toroidal rotation profile with mixed heating by neutral beam injection (NBI) and electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) has been investigated in KSTAR L-mode plasmas. ECH with varying resonance layer positions was used for heating a mix control. The experimental results show that ECH causes a counter-current rotation increment both for off-axis and on-axis ECH heating. For L-mode plasmas, off-axis ECH produces larger counter-current rotation than on-axis ECH. Analysis of ion heat and momentum transport for the ECH L-mode plasmas shows that the electron temperature gradient is the main reason for the degradation of ion heat confinement and also the main driving force for the non-diffusive momentum flux. As a possible mechanism for the counter-current intrinsic torque with ECH, the transition of the turbulence mode from ion temperature gradient (ITG) to the trapped electron mode (TEM) with the resulting sign change of turbulence driven residual stress is suggested. A linear gyro-kinetic analysis shows the ITG  →  TEM transition occurs in a localized region during ECH injection, and the trend of TEM excitation is consistent with the observed macroscopic trend of the toroidal rotation.</P>

Prediction of Digestible and Metabolizable Energy Content of Rice Bran Fed to Growing Pigs

Shi, C.X.,Liu, Z.Y.,Shi, M.,Li, P.,Zeng, Z.K.,Liu, L.,Huang, C.F.,Zhu, Z.P.,Li, D.F. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.5

Two experiments were conducted to determine the digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) content of 19 rice bran samples and to develop prediction equations for DE and ME based on their chemical composition. The 19 rice bran samples came from different rice varieties, processing methods and regions. The basal diet was formulated using corn and soybean meal (74.43% corn and 22.91% soybean meal and 2.66% vitamins and minerals). The 19 experimental diets based on a mixture of corn, soybean meal and 29.2% of each source of rice bran, respectively. In Exp. 1, 108 growing barrows ($32.1{\pm}4.2kg$) were allotted to 1 of 18 treatments according to a completely randomized design with 6 pigs per treatment. The treatment 1 was the control group which was fed with basal diet. The treatments 2 to 18 were fed with experimental diets. In Exp. 2, two additional rice bran samples were measured to verify the prediction equations developed in Exp. 1. A control diet and two rice bran diets were fed to 18 growing barrows ($34.6{\pm}3.5kg$). The control and experimental diets formulations were the same as diets in Exp. 1. The results showed that the DE ranged from 14.48 to 16.85 (mean 15.84) MJ/kg of dry matter while the ME ranged from 12.49 to 15.84 (mean 14.31) MJ/kg of dry matter. The predicted values of DE and ME of the two additional samples in Exp. 2 were very close to the measured values.

Flexural behaviour and capacity of composite panels of light gage steel and concrete

L. Shi,Y. Liu,J. L. Dawe,P. Bischoff 국제구조공학회 2009 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.9 No.5

Eight panel specimens were tested in one-way bending to study the behaviour and capacity of composite slab joists consisting of cold-formed steel C-sections and concrete. Various shear transfer mechanisms were implemented on the C-section flange embedded in the concrete to provide the longitudinal shear resistance. Results showed that all specimens reached serviceability limit state while in elastic range and failure was ductile. Shear transfer achieved for all specimens ranged from 42 to 99% of a full transfer while specimens employed with shear transfer enhancements showed a greater percentage and therefore a higher strength compared with those relying only on surface bond to resist shear. The implementation of pre-drilled holes on the embedded flange of the steel C-section was shown to be most effective. The correlation study between the push-out and panel specimens indicated that the calculated moment capacity based on shear transfer resistance obtained from push-out tests was, on average, 10% lower than the experimental ultimate capacity of the panel specimen.

Synthesis and evaluation of a novel chiral derivatization reagent for resolution of carboxylic acid enantiomers by RP-HPLC

Li, L.P.,Jin, M.N.,Shi, Q.,Xu, C.Y.,Jiang, Y.Z.,Lee, Y.I.,Min, J.Z. Academic Press 2017 Microchemical Journal Vol. No.

<P>A novel derivatization reagent, N-[1-Oxo-5-(triphenylphosphonium)pentyl]-(S)-3-aminopyrrolidine (OTPA), with triphenylphosphine (TPP) as a basic structure carrying a permanent positive charge was developed for the enantiomeric separation of chiral carboxylic acids by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). OTPA reacted with the carboxylic acids at 40 degrees C within 90 min in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt). The degree of epimerization (racemization) during the derivatization reaction was negligible. The separability of the diastereomers was evaluated in terms of their resolution value (Rs). The Rs values of the derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which were selected as the representative carboxylic acids, were completely separated by reversed-phase chromatography using an ODS (4.6 mm x 150 mm I.D., 5.0 mu m) column. The resolution Rs values were 1.54-2.23 for the evaluated carboxylic acids and the OTPA-derivatization was also effective for the enantiomeric separation of chiral carboxylic acids. The calibration curves (r(2) > 0.9971) were linear over the concentration range of 0.0125-1.25 mM for each enantiomer of ketoprofen (KET), and naproxen (NAP), 0.05-1.0 mM for each enantiomer of ibuprofen (IBU), 2-phenylpropionic acid (PPA), and loxoprofen (LOX), and 0.05-1.25 mM for each enantiomer of PBA. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) for each of the enantiomers of the NSAIDs and chiral carboxylic acid enantiomers was 1.4-7.6 mu mol/L. The inter-day and intra-day assay precisions were all <6.77% and the mean recoveries (%) of the NSAIDs and chiral carboxylic acids from the spiked human plasma were 95.27-101.12%. The derivatization followed by HPLC-UV enabled the separation and detection of NAP in human plasma with simple pretreatment. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>