• Energy Research

This experiment evaluated the performance of a combined geothermal heat pump and solar system (GHPS). A GHPS heating system was installed at a pig house and a comparative study was carried out between the environmentally friendly renewable energy source (GHPS) and the traditional heating method using fossil fuels. The impact of both heating systems on production performance, housing environment, noxious gas emission, and energy efficiency were evaluated along with the GHPS system performance parameters such as the coefficient of performance (COP), inlet and outlet water temperature and efficiency of solar collector. The average temperature inside the pig house was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the GHPS heating system. Similarly, the outflow temperature was increased significantly (p < 0.05) than the inflow temperature. The results of COP and efficiency of the solar system also indicated that the GHPS is an efficient heating system. The electricity consumption and carbon dioxide gas concentration were also reduced (p < 0.05) in the GHPS system. This study also predicts electricity consumption using an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model. The results showed that the proposed model justifies all the acceptance criteria in terms of the correlation coefficient, root mean square value and mean absolute error. The results of our experiment show that the GHPS system can be installed at a pig house for sustainable swine production as a renewable energy source.

Natural products with high antioxidant activity have attracted great attention in recent years. A water extraction and alcohol precipitation method were used to extract polysaccharides from the Flammulina velutipes stem-base (FVSP). The series of samples including FVSP30, FVSP45, FVSP60, and FVSP75 were isolated by different concentrations of ethanol. The crude polysaccharides were purified by freeze-thaw; deproteinization; DEAE cellulose-52 chromatography; Sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography; and another series of samples were found including FVSP-1, FVSP-2, and FVSP-3. Through 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide anion scavenging experiments, the effects of ethanol concentration during isolation and the degree of purification on the in vitro antioxidant properties of the FVSPs were analyzed. The results showed that the polysaccharides isolated by different ethanol concentrations exhibited strong antioxidant activity. With increasing ethanol concentration in the isolation process, the antioxidant activity was progressively enhanced. In the experimental concentration range, FVSP75 showed the strongest antioxidant activity at a concentration of 1.0 mg/mL. The FVSPs of different purities exhibited excellent antioxidant activity. Within the experimental range, as the degree of purification of the polysaccharides increased, the antioxidant activity decreased accordingly. FVSP-1, with low purity, exhibited the highest antioxidant activity at a concentration of 1.0 mg/mL. These results should provide a foundation for the use of FVSPs as a nutritional functional food or food additive and provide a theoretical basis for the efficient use of FVSPs.

The size of the pork market is increasing globally to meet the demand for animal protein, resulting in greater farm size for swine and creating a great challenge to swine farmers and industry owners in monitoring the farm activities and the health and behavior of the herd of swine. In addition, the growth of swine production is resulting in a changing climate pattern along with the environment, animal welfare, and human health issues, such as antimicrobial resistance, zoonosis, etc. The profit of swine farms depends on the optimum growth and good health of swine, while modern farming practices can ensure healthy swine production. To solve these issues, a future strategy should be considered with information and communication technology (ICT)-based smart swine farming, considering auto-identification, remote monitoring, feeding behavior, animal rights/welfare, zoonotic diseases, nutrition and food quality, labor management, farm operations, etc., with a view to improving meat production from the swine industry. Presently, swine farming is not only focused on the development of infrastructure but is also occupied with the application of technological knowledge for designing feeding programs, monitoring health and welfare, and the reproduction of the herd. ICT-based smart technologies, including smart ear tags, smart sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), deep learning, big data, and robotics systems, can take part directly in the operation of farm activities, and have been proven to be effective tools for collecting, processing, and analyzing data from farms. In this review, which considers the beneficial role of smart technologies in swine farming, we suggest that smart technologies should be applied in the swine industry. Thus, the future swine industry should be automated, considering sustainability and productivity.

This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of a geothermal plus sunlight-based incubator on the growth performance, electricity uses and housing environment of piglets. A total of 20 piglets, average 7.7 ± 0.015 kg (mean ± std.) initial body weight, were randomly divided into two separated incubators: control (conventional incubator) and the geothermal plus sunlight-based heat pump (GS) incubator with 10 replicated piglets. The experimental duration was 8 weeks. Average daily weight gain, feed intake, electricity consumption, and house temperature, humidity, ammonia, and carbon dioxide concentration were measured on a weekly basis. There were no significant differences in the final body weight, average daily body weight gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) between the incubators. The electricity consumption of the GS incubator was reduced by 120.95 kWh/head and the saving efficacy was about 64.76% that of the conventional incubator. The electricity cost was reduced by 3.26 USD and the ratio of feed cost to weigh gain was lower in the GS-based incubator. No significant differences were noted for the internal temperature and humidity between the incubators. The ammonia concentration and carbon dioxide concentration were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the GS-based incubator than the control incubator. The geothermal plus sunlight-based incubator might be healthy and economic for the sustainable pig production.