61871 research outputs found
Sort by
Towards the improvement of sheep welfare: Exploring the use of qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) for the monitoring and assessment of sheep
Get PDFChallenges faced by sheep in Australia in terms of disease, injury and management may compromise not only health and productivity but also welfare. These challenges represent a growing concern for both producers and the public. Hence there is an obvious need for the development of measures to allow producers, who may have limited access to stock or are constrained by time and/or resource availability, to monitor their sheep. There is a clear benefit to producers being able to readily identify animals whose welfare might be compromised and thus are in need of further care. However, the assessment of animal welfare is challenging under commercial conditions and to date, few measures are available to help producers recognise animals in compromised welfare states. Qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) is an approach that captures the expressive behaviour of an animal, through the integration and summary of details of behavioural events, posture, and movement. In this way, QBA represents a valuable tool that offers insight into the physical and physiological aspects of animal welfare, and when used in conjunction with other key measures helps to provide a more complete and comprehensive picture of an animal’s welfare state. Furthermore, QBA should be used together with other welfare measures, where it has been proposed to guide the interpretation of welfare data. As a welfare tool, QBA has been applied to assess the behavioural expression in numerous livestock species including pigs and cattle, however, this methodology is less well studied in sheep and more work is needed to validate QBA for practical application.
The aim of the research described in this thesis was to investigate whether the QBA methodology could be applied to assess the welfare of sheep subject to various welfare issues relevant to the Australian sheep industry. To this end, over four experimental chapters, QBA was applied to video footage captured of sheep in various states of compromised welfare, including those suffering from common injury and diseases; lameness, inappetence, flystrike, and gastro-intestinal parasitism, and those experiencing pain caused by routine husbandry procedures (ear tagging, castration, mulesing, and tail docking). Moreover, in two experimental chapters (Chapters 4 & 6), video footage was captured of sheep in positive welfare states (reduced gastro-intestinal parasite burden, and habituation to human presence). This video footage was also analysed quantitatively and other welfare measures including those of health/disease status, physical condition and locomotive activity were collected for validation purposes in each study.
Over four experimental chapters, it was demonstrated that observers, blind to experimental procedures and treatments, can reach a significant consensus in their interpretation and assessment of the behavioural expression of sheep, and that these assessments can relate meaningfully to the welfare state of the animal. In Chapter 3, observers were able to distinguish between flystruck and non-flystruck sheep using the QBA methodology, and the behavioural expression scores given to each sheep corresponded to the severity of strike and the condition of the wool. In Chapter 4, observers identified differences in the behavioural expression of sheep that related to the severity of gastro-intestinal parasitism (subclinical v. clinical). Moreover, it was discovered that the treatment of sheep to lessen gastro-intestinal parasite burden altered the behavioural expression of parasitised sheep. A significant consensus was also reached amongst observers in the assessment of lambs subject to routine husbandry procedures (ear tagging, castration, mulesing, and tail docking) in Chapter 5. Observers were able to distinguish lambs that were subject to these painful husbandry procedures and were administered either a placebo or analgesics (Tri-Solfen® and meloxicam), from the control lambs which were only restrained. Hence suggesting that the pain caused by these husbandry procedures alters the behavioural patterns and demeanour of lambs in a way that is identifiable to observers using the QBA methodology. Lastly, when observers viewed video footage of sheep traversing a walk-over-weigh (WoW) apparatus in Chapter 6, they were able to distinguish sheep that were either lame or habituated to the test apparatus and human presence, from the control animals. However, in this Chapter, observers were not able to distinguish between all treatment groups evaluated based on their behavioural expression, specifically differences in the demeanour of inappetent and control sheep was not evident, nor were observers able to distinguish between lame and habituated sheep.
In summary, the research presented in this thesis indicates that assessments of behavioural expression can be used under most of those conditions investigated to distinguish sheep in poor welfare states due to injury or disease, from those that are healthy. Furthermore, it appears that observers can reliably identify differences in behavioural expression related to positive welfare states. This work has detailed the behavioural expression of sheep as perceived by observers and has led to a greater understanding of the behavioural expression of sheep in different welfare states. It appears that through the assessment of demeanour or body language, QBA offers both relevant and valid assessments which may help producers gain an insight into the welfare state of their sheep. It is suggested that when used in conjunction with other select behavioural measures, QBA may represent a valuable tool for producers to improve the welfare of sheep in their care
Ditching the Plough: A social history of how Western Australian farmers started a revolution in their paddocks that gave us modern farming
Get PDFFor thousands of years, farmers have ploughed their paddocks prior to planting a crop. This method of planting crops, using soil cultivation, was passed down through the generations, almost as a cultural ritual, with the primary purpose of burying the weeds to create a clean seed bed. Documented research results in Western Australia (WA) from as early as the late 1920s, demonstrated the yield advantages of planting a crop at the break of the season (April/May). Because few other options were available to them, growers had no choice but to wait until the weeds germinated before cultivating (ploughing) the soil, often several times, before planting a crop. In the mid to late 1960s, coinciding with the push by ICI Australia to sell its revolutionary Spray.Seed® herbicide, grain growers began to experiment with a new planting technique called direct drilling, minimum tillage or chemical ploughing. This was the forerunner to the modern day no-till movement. This method was based on the simple premise of spraying the herbicide on the paddock to kill the weeds, followed closely by planting the seed directly into the soil, thereby either reducing or eliminating cultivation from the system. Further, in the late 1970s, environmental pressures, particularly relating to the need to reduce water and wind erosion following extensive cultivation, forced farmers to innovate, and consider other ways, besides ploughing the soil, to plant a crop. This research project examines these various motivations behind the adoption of this revolutionary style of farming, the reasons why adoption stagnated across the grain growing regions of Western Australia and tells the stories of some of the first and early adopter growers. Through a series of semi-structured one-on-one in-depth interviews with five participants, this thesis documents the social history of this turbulent time in agricultural history, recording the stories of the people who were part of this global revolution in food production. The interviewees have all detailed their experiences in the practical implementation of using the direct drilling method in combination with the Spray.Seed® product, the relationships they made throughout this time, the events and meetings they attended, the responses they received from other industry participants, the environmental benefits they saw over time, and the business profitability achieved by committing to a vision of minimum cultivation over the longer-term. The interviews have captured the memories of the first and early adopter growers and a ‘pioneering’ agronomist who were bold enough to defy thousands of years of cultural tradition by removing multiple cultivations from their seeding strategies. Discussion centres on the geographical, social, and technical barriers that created a delay in industry-wide adoption, despite the repeated demonstration that this new strategy was clearly, in hindsight, more profitable and more environmentally sustainable than the traditional method of planting a crop using cultivation. This research also demonstrates the critical importance of documenting human stories before they are lost forever
The impact of intraday momentum on stock returns: Evidence from S&P500 and CSI300
Get PDFThis paper analyzes the statistical impact of COVID-19 on the S&P500 and the CSI300 intraday momentum. This study employs an empirical method, that is, the intraday momentum method used in this research. Also, the predictability of timing conditional strategies is also used here to predict the intraday momentum of stock returns. In addition, this study aims to estimate and forecast the coefficients in the stock market pandemic crisis through a robust standard error approach. The empirical findings indicate that the intraday market behavior an unusual balanced; the volatility and trading volume imbalance and the return trends are losing overwhelmingly. The consequence is that the first half-hour return will forecast the last half-hour return of the S&P500, but during the pandemic shock, the last half-hour of both stock markets will not have a significant impact on intraday momentum. Additionally, market timing strategy analysis is a significant factor in the stock market because it shows the perfect trading time, decides investment opportunities and which stocks will perform well on this day. Besides, we also found that when the volatility and volume of the S&P500 are both at a high level, the first half-hour has been a positive impact, while at the low level, the CSI300 has a negative impact on the last half-hour. In addition, this shows that the optimistic effect and positive outlook of the stockholders for the S&P500 is in the first half-hours after weekend on Monday morning because market open during the weekend holiday, and the mentality of every stockholder’s indicate the positive impression of the stock market
A New Extended Sliding Mode Observer for Second-order Linear Systems
No full textIn this paper, a new extended sliding mode observer for second-order linear systems is proposed. It is shown that, when the sampling period is small enough, the unmeasurable state estimation errors can be numerically estimated and then used for constructing the switching functions of the sliding mode observer. The advantages of the proposed new sliding mode observer are that (i) it has a solid theoretical background of stability and convergence from the view-point of the observer-like system; (ii) it can sufficiently approximate the observer-like system when the sampling period is small enough; (iii) the fast error convergence is good for practical applications. Simulation results are given in support of the advantages and effectiveness of proposed new sliding mode observer
An investigation into the effects of a curcumin extract (Curcugen®) on osteoarthritis pain of the knee: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Get PDFCurcumin, a phytochemical from the spice turmeric, has anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to have pain-relieving effects. In this 8-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 101 adults with knee osteoarthritis received either 500 mg twice daily of a standardised curcumin extract (Curcugen®) or placebo. Outcome measures included the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), knee pain ratings, Japanese Orthopaedic Association Score for Osteoarthritic Knees (JOA), PROMIS–29, and performance-based testing comprising the 40-m fast-paced walk test, 6-min walk test, timed up-and-go test, and 30-s chair stand test. Compared to the placebo, curcumin significantly reduced the KOOS knee pain score (p = 0.009) and numeric knee pain ratings (p = 0.001). Curcumin was also associated with greater improvements (p ≤ 0.05) than the placebo on the timed up-and-go test, 6-min walk test, and the JOA total score; but not the 30-s chair stand test or 40-m fast-paced walk test. Pain-relieving medication was reduced in 37% of participants on curcumin compared to 13% on placebo. The findings support the potential efficacy of curcumin for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee but studies of longer duration, varying treatment doses, differing curcumin extracts, and the use of other objective outcome measures will be helpful to expand on these findings
Error Management Theory and biased first impressions: How do people perceive potential mates under conditions of uncertainty?
No full textPeople must make inferences about a potential mate's desirability based on incomplete information. Under such uncertainty, there are two possible errors: people could overperceive a mate’s desirability, which might lead to regrettable mating behavior, or they could underperceive the mate’s desirability, which might lead to missing a valuable opportunity. How do people balance the risks of these errors, and do men and women respond differently? Based on an analysis of the relative costs of these two types of error, we generated two new hypotheses about biases in initial person perception: the Male Overperception of Attractiveness Bias (MOAB) and the Female Underperception of Attractive Bias (FUAB). Participants (N = 398), who were recruited via social media, an email distribution list, and snowball sampling, rated the attractiveness of unfamiliar opposite-sex targets twice: once from a blurred image, and once from a clear image. By randomizing order of presentation (blurred first vs. clear first), we isolated the unique effects of uncertainty—which was only present when the participant saw the blurred image first. As predicted, men overperceived women's attractiveness, on average. By contrast, as predicted, women underperceived men's attractiveness, on average. Because multiple possible decision rules could produce these effects, the effects do not reveal the algorithm responsible for them. We explicitly addressed this level of analysis by identifying multiple candidate algorithms and testing the divergent predictions they yield. This suggested the existence of more nuanced biases: men overperceived the attractiveness of unattractive (but not attractive) women, whereas women underperceived the attractiveness of attractive (but not unattractive) men. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating algorithm in analyses of cognitive biases
One health genomic study of human and animal Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated at diagnostic laboratories on a small Caribbean Island
Get PDFKlebsiella pneumoniae causes a variety of infections in both humans and animals. In this study, we characterised the genomes of human and animal isolates from two diagnostic laboratories on St. Kitts, a small Caribbean island inhabited by a large population of vervet monkeys. In view of the increased chances of direct or indirect contact with humans and other animal species, we used the One Health approach to assess transmission of K. pneumoniae across host species by sequencing 82 presumptive K. pneumoniae clinical isolates from humans (n = 51), vervets (n = 21), horses (n = 5), dogs (n = 4) and a cat (n = 1). Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was carried out using Illumina technology. De novo assembly was performed in CLC Genomics Workbench v.11.0. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected using NASP followed by phylogenetic analysis using IQ-TREE. Virulence and antimicrobial resistance gene contents were analysed using the Kleborate and CGE pipelines. WGS-based analysis showed that 72 isolates were K. pneumoniae sensu stricto and five K. quasipneumoniae and five K. variicola. K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to 35 sequence types (ST), three of which were occasionally shared between humans and animals: ST23, ST37 and ST307. The ST23 strains from vervets formed a separate cluster amongst publicly available sequenced ST23 strains, indicating the presence of a specific vervet sublineage. Animal strains harbored fewer resistance genes and displayed distinct virulence traits that appeared to be host-specific in vervet isolates. Our results show that K. pneumoniae infections on this Caribbean island are usually caused by host-specific lineages
Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera
Get PDFChemosensory proteins (CSPs) are a family of small, soluble proteins that play a crucial role in transporting odorant and pheromone molecules in the insect chemosensory system. Recent studies reveal that they also function in development, nutrient metabolism and insecticide resistance. In-depth and systematic characterization of previously unknown CSPs will be valuable to investigate more detailed functionalities of this protein family. Here, we identified 27 CSP genes from the genome and transcriptome sequences of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). The expression patterns of these genes were studied by using transcriptomic data obtained from different tissues and stages. The results demonstrate that H. armigera CSP genes are not only highly expressed in chemosensory tissues, such as antennae, mouthparts, and tarsi, but also in the salivary glands, cuticle epidermis, and hind gut. HarmCSP6 and 22 were selected as candidate CSPs for expression in Escherichia coli and purification. A new method was developed that significantly increased the HarmCSP6 and 22 expression levels as soluble recombinant proteins for purification. This study advances our understanding of insect CSPs and provides a new approach to highly express recombinant CSPs in E. coli
Emergence of zoonotic Cryptosporidium parvum in China
No full textZoonotic cryptosporidiosis is a major public health problem in industrialized nations; in those countries it is caused mainly by Cryptosporidium parvum IIa subtypes that are prevalent in dairy calves. Because of the short history of intensive animal farming in China, strains of C. parvum are found only on some dairy farms in this country and are the IId subtypes. However, the prevalence of C. parvum is increasing rapidly, with IIa subtypes recently detected in a few grazing animals, and both IIa and IId subtypes are emerging in humans. As animal farming intensifies, China may follow in the footsteps of industrialized nations where zoonotic cryptosporidiosis is rampant. One Health and biosecurity measures are urgently needed to slow down the dispersal of autochthonous IId subtypes and imported IIa subtypes
Developing responsible tourism in emerging economies: The case of Nigeria
No full textAdvocacy for the responsible development of tourism continues to attract attention from scholars. The emergence of responsible tourism in the 1990s was a call to action, and for a move from setting agendas (sustainable tourism) to stakeholder accountability. As tourism is still developing in Nigeria, this paper discusses strategies for supporting responsible tourism development in the Southeastern region of the country. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were organized with 166 stakeholders, including staff of tourism parastatals, traditional rulers, the representatives of men, women and youth and local security agencies. Findings identified possible strategies for determining if, when and how responsible tourism development might occur. These strategies include stakeholder empowerment, funding for tourism supporting facilities, boosting security and capacity for implementing tourism policies. The findings suggest that if well implemented, the tourism strategies are central to achieving future resident and tourist friendly development