Piglet production by non-surgical transfer of vitrified embryos, transported to commercial swine farms and warmed on site.

We investigated the feasibility of piglet production by non-surgical embryo transfer (Ns-ET) of vitrified porcine blastocysts and expanded blastocysts transported to commercial farms and warmed on site (V/T/W embryos). Ns-ET was performed by depositing 11-20 vitrified and warmed embryos at a proximal site within the uterus via a catheter. In Experiment 1, the effect of donor-recipient estrous cycle asynchrony on the efficiency of Ns-ET of vitrified and ordinary warmed embryos was investigated at the experimental facility. With a 1-day delay recipients relative to that of donor, the farrowing rate was 50.0% and the survival rate to term was 21.1%. In Experiment 2, Ns-ET using recipients with a 1-day delay and vitrified embryos after one-step warming and dilution was evaluated at the experimental facility. Although the resulting farrowing rate was 42.9%, the survival rate was 6.4%. In Experiment 3, Ns-ET was conducted using V/T/W embryos at four commercial farms, where piglets derived from them were produced. When artificial insemination was conducted prior to Ns-ET, the farrowing and survival rates obtained using V/T/W embryos were 75.0%, and 21.3%, respectively. These results show that Ns-ET of V/T/W embryos using this protocol would be feasible for piglet production at farms.

Relative contribution of sensory characteristics for different types of pork loin, assessed by temporal dominance of sensations.

BACKGROUND: Sensory perception is a dynamic process occurring sequentially. The dynamic analysis of the perception of sensory characteristics in meat is important to understand complex meat sensory characteristics. Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) is a dynamic sensory method that captures the 'dominance of sensations' throughout food consumption, and it is possible to calculate the relative contribution of various sensory characteristics by 'dominance rate' over time. The objective of this study was to assess the major sensory characteristics of the dynamic sensory perception of pork loin. Using the TDS, we evaluated pork loins derived from pigs with different genetic and feeding backgrounds. Moreover, we checked the integrity of the TDS by comparing the TDS results with a descriptive sensory analysis and a physico-chemical analysis. RESULTS: Seven types of pork loin were evaluated by TDS, and 'tender and/or soft,' 'tough and/or hard,' 'juicy,' 'dry,' 'fat melting,' 'smoothness,' 'sourness,' 'umami,' and 'beast odors' became dominant in at least one type of pork loin. The dynamics of the perception of pork sensory characteristics was also depicted by TDS. In addition, TDS and descriptive analysis demonstrated similarity in principal component analysis. CONCLUSION: TDS demonstrated the major sensory characteristics on the dynamic sensory perception of pork loin. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Distribution and characterization of anammox in a swine wastewater activated sludge facility.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a novel biological nitrogen removal process that oxidizes NH4(+) to N2 with NO2(-) as an electron acceptor. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential activity and characteristics of anammox in a conventional swine wastewater treatment facility, which uses an activated sludge system consisting of three cascade aeration tanks equipped with ceramic support material. Anammox activity was estimated by a (15)N tracer assay method and was detected in all the sludge and biofilm samples in each aeration tank. Biofilm taken from the third aeration tank, in which the dissolved oxygen concentration was 7.5 mg/L and the wastewater included a high concentration of NO3(-), showed by far the highest anammox activity. A clone library analysis showed the existence of anammox bacteria closely related to 'Candidatus Jettenia asiatica' and 'Ca. Brocadia caroliniensis'. The optimum conditions for anammox activity were a pH of 6.7-7.2, a temperature of 35 °C, a NO2(-) concentration of 10 mmol/L or less, and an NH4(+) concentration of 32 mmol/L or less.