The experiment was performed to compare the effects of fermented soybean meal (fermented with Aspergillus oryzae 3.042, FSBM) and soybean meal on digestive enzyme activities and intestinal morphology in broilers. Three hundred twenty 1-d-old Ross x Ross male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into 2 dietary treatments for a 6-wk feeding trial, including 0- to 21-d and 21- to 42-d periods. At the end of each stage, 8 broilers of each treatment were killed, and pancreas, small intestine digesta, and duodenum, jejunum, and ileum segments were collected for digestive enzymes and intestinal morphology evaluation. Results of the experiment showed that replacing soybean meal with FSBM in diet increased the activities of trypsin, lipase, and protease significantly in intestinal content of starter broilers (P<0.05) and enhanced the protease activity of grower broilers (P<0.05). Amylase activity was not affected in both feeding periods by the treatments. Compared with the control, broilers fed with FSBM had lower pancreatic trypsin activity (P<0.05) in the starter phase. There were no significant differences on lipase, amylase, and protease activity between the treatments in both growth phases. Increased villus height (P<0.05) and decreased crypt depth (P<0.05) of jejunum mucosa could be observed in the whole growth stage of broilers fed with FSBM. Also, duodenal villus height of starter chicks was also significantly increased (P<0.05).

No abstract

The objective of the current experiment was to investigate the effect of Bacillus subtilis fermented soybean meal (FSBM) on intestinal morphology and digestive enzyme activities in piglets. Sixty crossbred (Duroc x Landrance x Yorkshire) piglets at an average weight of 8.62 kg were randomly allotted to two treatments and fed diets containing soybean meal (SBM) and FSBM, respectively. At the end of the experimental period, six piglets of each treatment were slaughtered humanly to collect the contents and tissue samples at three different locations in small intestine. Light microscopy and scanning electron indicated that piglets fed FSBM had a higher (P<0.05) villus height at three different locations of small intestine and had la ower (P<0.05) crypt depth in the duodenum compared to piglets fed SBM. The results showed that activities of total protease and trypsin at the duodenum and jejunum of piglets fed with FSBM increased (P<0.05) compared with the control. The trypsin activity in the pancreas of piglets decreased (P<0.05) when they were fed with FSBM. The results showed that FSBM improved intestinal morphology and digestive enzyme activities in weaned piglets.

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Soybean-specific IgE and IgG1 antibodies increased, with high levels of histamine release, severe degranulation of mast cells and damage of the epithelium of small intestine in mice sensitized with glycinin and beta-conglyinin.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary betaine (0, 0.125%) on performance, carcass composition, pork quality and hepatic betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) activity of crossbred finishing barrows. Three replicates of ten pigs were used for each treatment. The results showed that average daily gain, feed intake and feed conversion were not affected by betaine. Compared with the control group, pigs treated with betaine had a 8.17% (p<0.05) decrease in carcass fat percentage, and a 8.84% (p<0.05) reduction in 10th-rib backfat thickness, but dressing percentage, percentage lean, longissimus muscle area, and average backfat thickness were not affected. There were also no significant differences in muscle color score, marbling score, pork pH value and water loss rate between the control and betaine-treated groups. Hepatic betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) activity was significantly increased by 13.97% (p<0.05) when pigs were offered 0.125% betaine.

No abstract

Variation of the stress‐induced magnetic field of the U75V rail steel under tension was investigated in this research. Various magnetic responses were registered by a magnetometer in the elastic and plastic deformation stages, which can be explained by the microstructural changes in magnetic domains. Two types of defective specimens were also tested to correlate the stress concentration with the magnetic field. It is found that the tangential component of the magnetic field Bx is much more sensitive to local stress concentration than the normal component Bz. The tangential component Bx reaches a peak value at the rupture position, and the peak magnitude is proportional to the concentrated stress caused by the defect. This observation is different from the Q235 steel, whose tangential component Bx and the normal component Bz are equally effective. Such discrepancy might be due to that U75V fails in a more brittle pattern than the Q235 steel. The average value of the Bx along the loading axis can determine the overall stress state of the structure, while the peaks in the Bx curve tell the local stress concentration caused by cracks and dislocation.