EFFECTS OF DIETARY GLYCINE BETAINE ON BLOOD CHARACTERISTICS AND PORK QUALITY

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary glycine betaine on pork quality and blood characteristics. A total of 80 female pigs (Landrace  ×  Yorkshire  ×  Duroc) were randomly allotted into one of four experimental diet groups. Each group of pigs fed with a commercial diet (control) added with 0.2 g glycine betaine (T1), 0.4 g glycine betaine (T2) and 0.6 g glycine betaine (T3)/kg diet during 40 days. Glycine betaine concentrations in plasma and loin muscle were significantly increased by dietary glycine betaine; however, triglyceride concentration in serum was decreased by dietary glycine betaine. Creatine phosphokinase concentrations in plasma had no significant difference among the dietary groups. Redness ( a* ) was significantly higher in T2 and T3; however, at the first and seventh days of storage, redness ( a* ) was not significantly different between dietary groups. Shear force was significantly higher in dietary glycine betaine groups at the first day of storage. Cholesterol content was significantly lower in T2 and T3, whereas T1 was not significantly different compared with the control group. In fatty acid composition, the ratio of saturated fatty acids was increased, whereas unsaturated fatty acids were decreased by dietary glycine betaine.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Glycine betaine is an amino acid (trimethylglycine) present in most organisms, and is an obligatory intermediate in the catabolism of choline. Glycine betaine has been reported to affect some aspects of pork qualities. As a result of this study, dietary glycine betaine should improve meat redness and reduce cholesterol. However, dietary glycine betaine did not influence creatine phosphokinase levels in plasma. These results will be helpful to the pork industry and meat scientists for improving meat qaulity.     

Mg Alloy Foam Fabrication via Melt Foaming Method

For the first time AZ91 （MgAl9Zn1） and AM60 （MgAl6） Mg alloy foams with homogeneous pore structures were prepared successfully via melt foaming method using CaCO3 as blowing agent. It is revealed that the blowing gas to foam the melt is not CO2 but CO, which comes from liquid-solid reaction between Mg melt. The reaction temperature is more than 100℃ lower than CaCO3 decomposition, which makes Mg alloy melts foam into cellular structure much more easily in the temperature range from 690℃ to 750℃.     

Effect of variables in inert gas condensation processing on nanoparticle trajectory simulated by finite volume method

The finite volume method was applied to the determination of the three-dimensional convection current during inert gas condensation (IGC) processing by using the commercially available software, "Fluent". The lower velocity of the convection current at higher evaporation temperature resulted from the lower value of the coefficient of thermal expansion. The velocity of the convection current increased with increasing chamber pressure, because the driving force of the buoyancy was directly proportional to the gas density. 13% and 17.3% of the particles were trapped during the first period of circulation in the case of the single and double heaters, respectively.     

Case studies of a design modification to improve phenol stripper column safety

Depressive failure at the connecting locations between the phenol reactor shell and the stripper tray is one of the primary failure modes in a phenol stripper reactor. The occurrence of cracking failure of an AISI 304 tray in the phenol stripper reactor resulted in an emergency shutdown of the petrochemical plant. Possible causes for the stripper tray cracking were analyzed using a FEM analysis with an ANSYS program and solutions to prevent further cracking failures of the stripper trays are suggested. Variables such as operation pressure and stripper tray thickness were evaluated in terms of safe operation of the phenol production reactor. The simulation results from the ANSYS analysis showed that the stress concentration at the fractured area of the stripper tray could be reduced by a factor of 2 by doubling the thickness of the existing stripper tray. Therefore, for safe and efficient operation of the phenol production line, the design of the stripper should be modified by increasing the thickness of the existing stripper tray. A detailed simulation analysis of the process is discussed.     

Fabrication of Mg-Zn-Y-based quasi-crystal by pouring melt into different cooling media

Mg-Zn-Y-based quasi-crystal (QC) alloys were fabricated by pouring melts into different cooling media.The effects of different cooling rates on the QC morphology,size,volume fraction and micro-hardness...     

A Fuzzy Shape Control Method for Stainless Steel Strip on Sendzimir Rolling Mill

 The strip shape in the stainless steel process has made an issue of the strip quality. The objective of the shape control is to minimize the shape deviation and to maintain symmetrical shape patterns in the lateral direction. The method of the shape recognition employs the least square method. The shape deviation is controlled by the fuzzy shape controller (FSC). The experiments have been performed online for various stainless materials, thicknesses, and strip widths. The test results show very efficient performances in respect of stable target tracking and symmetrical and minimal fluctuation of the strip shape.     

Adhesion characteristics of Cu/Ni–Cr/polyimide flexible copper clad laminates according to Ni:Cr ratio and Cu electroplating layer thickness

The adhesion strength of Cu/Ni–Cr/polyimide flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) was evaluated according to the composition ratio of the Ni–Cr layer and the thickness of the Cu electroplating layer, by using a 90° peel test. The changes in the morphology, chemical bond and adhesion property were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The peel strength of the FCCL increased with increasing Cr content and increasing Cu electroplating layer thickness. This increasing FCCL peel strength was attributed to a lower C–N bond and higher C–O and carbonyl (C=O) bonds in the polyimide surface compared to the FCCL with a lower adhesion strength. The adhesion property of the FCCLs was significantly affected by the Ni:Cr ratio.     

EFFECT OF STORAGE TEMPERATURE ON MEAT QUALITY OF MUSCLE WITH DIFFERENT FIBER TYPE COMPOSITION FROM KOREAN NATIVE CATTLE (HANWOO)

Three kinds of Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) muscles (Loin, strip loin and inside round) were obtained from a local farm and then divided into two storage temperatures (0 and 5C), respectively. In meat color, redness ( a *) was significantly higher in 5C storage samples compared with 0C storage samples in all muscle samples after 7 days of storage. Loin had significantly lower purge loss than other muscle samples, whereas inside round was significantly higher in purge loss. Strip loin showed lower shear force values compared with those of other muscle samples. 5C storage samples had significantly higher thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value than 0C storage samples in all muscle samples. In sensory evaluation, overall acceptability was significantly higher at 14 or 21 days of storage in all muscle samples, and 5C storage samples showed higher overall acceptability compared with 0C storage samples.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This result will obtain information to help understand the meat quality in Hanwoo for the foreign scientists. The results of the present study showed that meat qualities of Hanwoo were much higher in 5C storage sample compared with 0C samples in all muscle samples until 35 days of storage, and loin sample showed higher sensory score than strip loin and inside round samples.     

Fabrication of Near Net Shape Metallic Foam via Plaster Mould

Fabrication characteristics are unstable in direct foaming method. Therefore, most of near net-shape metallic foams are produced, and investigated by powder metallurgy. Direct foaming method, however, has many benefits （i.e. reduce the unit cost of goods and fabrication process etc.） to fabrication of metallic foams. In this article, the fabrication characteristic of near net-shape metallic foams by direct foaming method was evaluated. Al and Plaster was used for base material and mould material respectively. Ca and TiH2 were added to molten Al as thickening and blowing agent for stable condition of bubbles. Thickening time was about 10 min with a stirring speed of 600 r/min. Foaming time was 30-120 s for evaluation of the optimum foaming condition. Amount of agent was selected by pre-experimental data. Porosity of near net-shape goods was measured by Archimedes method. On the other hand, it seems that increasing poring time and thickening agent make the poor porosity