19366 research outputs found
Sort by
A bibliographical review of research completed by Nepali students at Lincoln University, New Zealand (1956 - 2022)
Get PDFNot long after the summiting of Everest in May 1953, Bidur Kumar Thapa, the first recorded Nepali student arrived at the then Lincoln Agricultural College, supported by the Colombo Plan. He graduated in 1956 with a Masters of Agricultural Science with Honours in Soil Science under the supervision of Dr Walker, and went on to publish his findings on grassland soils in the Journal of Soil Science, in 1959. Thapa’s work laid the foundation and pathway for future students from Nepal. In the following years, more than fifty Nepali research students have been recorded in the Lincoln University archives as completing a range of research-based qualifications from across the University, and in many instances going on to publish findings in scholarly journals. This annotated bibliography sets out to collate, review and curate their collective research efforts spanning almost seventy years
Comparison of dairy cow step activity under different milking schedules
Get PDFContext. Variations in the number of milkings each day and their timing are becoming increasingly common. How these changes affect cow behaviour is poorly understood. When cows are milked less frequently, their walking to and from the dairy is reduced and their amount of time spent at pasture increases; however, the impact on activity under different milking schedules has not been measured.
Aims. The objective of this study was to identify any differences in cow walking activity (steps per hour) among three milking frequencies and three milking schedules of 3-in-2 (milking three times in 2 days), at two stages of lactation (34 and 136 days in milk), over a period of 6 weeks. Time spent eating was assessed to help explain differences in activity within a day.
Methods. Data were collected from five groups of 40 cows (n = 200) milked, as follows: once a day (OAD); twice a day (TAD); 3-in-2 (three groups) at intervals of 12–18–18 h, 10–19–19 h, and 8–20–20 h. All cows were fitted with AfiAct pedometers, which recorded steps per hour. Eight cows in each treatment group were also fitted with CowManager SensOor™ ear tags, which recorded minutes per hour spent eating.
Key results. Cow steps per hour increased with an increasing milking frequency in both trial periods. When data associated with walking to and from milking were removed, there were still differences in cow step activity. Cows milked OAD took 30% fewer steps than TAD cows. The diurnal pattern of eating time differed between these two trial groups. The effect of milking time among the 3-in-2 trials showed that the shorter the time between the milkings on the day the cows were milked twice, the greater the number of steps per hour. There were graphical eating differences between the 8–20–20 trial group and 12–18–18 trial group on the day that cows were milked twice.
Conclusions. We conclude that both the number and timings of milkings affect a cow’s step activity and grazing behaviour.
Implications. Farmers should minimise the amount of time cows spend away from the paddock, especially in the afternoon, to minimise any changes to natural behaviour
The Tourism Adaptation Classification (TAC) framework: An application to New Zealand's Glacier country
Get PDFAlongside growing awareness of the significance of environmental change for glacier regions, and their tourism-dependent communities, is the realization of the need to adapt to changing conditions. Such adaptation is necessary for tourism operators, managers, and planners as well as the visitors themselves, and is part of building resilient tourism systems. This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the possible stages of adaptation in glacier tourism destinations. The Tourism Adaptation Classification (TAC) framework aligns three stages of adaptation (resilience, transition, and transformation) against adaptation strategies implemented by tourism stakeholders and identifies specific characteristics. Using a desk-based case study approach, the framework is illustrated with reference to Glacier Country in New Zealand's Westland/Tai Poutini National Park in relation to three core dimensions of the tourism system: tourism planning and governance; tourism business and operations; and visitor experience
How flammable is your farm? Measuring the flammability of crops and pastures, and other plant species commonly found on farms in Canterbury, New Zealand : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master Applied Science at Lincoln University
Get PDFDue to human-induced climate change, global temperatures are expected to rise, leading to increased extreme fire weather being predicted for New Zealand (NZ). Destructive fires are becoming more prevalent every year, threatening our biodiversity, and causing damage to human infrastructure, crops, and pastures. Hence, NZ's landscapes must be made more resilient to wildfires. One potential tool to help reduce fire spread is green firebreaks, strips of low flammability vegetation that are strategically placed across the landscape. However, to establish green firebreaks, we first need to know the flammability of different species. While there has been some research examining the flammability of introduced and native trees, shrubs, and grasses in NZ, there is a lack of information regarding the flammability of common crops and pasture grasses used not only in NZ, but around the world. This thesis intends to address this knowledge gap by testing the shoot flammability of common pastures, crops and other plant species that occur on Canterbury farms. This thesis also compares the flammability of these crop and pasture species to that of other plant species already tested in NZ to produce a list of low flammability species which can be used to develop potential green firebreaks on farms in NZ and other temperate regions of the world where similar crops are grown.
The shoot-level flammability of 47 common NZ crop and pasture species found on rural Canterbury farms was tested and most of these species were found to be of Low or Very Low flammability. Only three of the species, Common pear (Pyrus communis) and two Apple varities (Malus domestica var. Braeburn, M. domestica var. Royal Gala) were of Very High flammability, indicating that many crop and pasture species grown in Canterbury are suitable to use as green firebreaks. These 47 crop and pasture species were then compared to 269 other plant species already tested in NZ and found to be comparatively very low in flammability, further suggesting that crop and pasture species are excellent candidates for green firebreaks on agricultural and rural land. This supports recent suggestions that diversified agricultural systems can lower the likelihood of large, intense fires and will assist farmers and landowners in redesigning their farms so they can plant low-flammability species in areas they deem to be high fire dangers. Overall, this knowledge will improve our understanding of how fire regimes change over time and space in agricultural landscapes and help mitigate wildfires in an era of rapid climate change and increasingly destructive wildfires in NZ and around the world
Manufacturers' efficiency disparity: A comparative analysis in the Southeast Asian region
No full textPurpose - The study aims to investigate the profitability and marketability efficiency scores and determinants of 899 listed manufacturers in six Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach - The study employs the bootstrap two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure profitability and marketability efficiencies of Southeast Asian manufacturers. The study uses the panel-data fractional regression model (FRM), which is an advantageous method that is suitable for the fractional response variables and applicable to time-differing heterogeneity, to investigate the determinants of Southeast Asian manufacturers' efficiencies.
Findings - The study demonstrates that listed manufacturers in Indonesia and Singapore achieve the highest average profitability and marketability efficiencies among the six Southeast Asian countries. The study also shows that the cash ratio, institutional ownership, headcount and technology-application positively affect Southeast Asian-listed manufacturers' profitability and marketability efficiencies at different levels of significance.
Originality/value - The current study is the first assessment of the listed manufacturers' profitability and marketability efficiencies in Southeast Asian countries, which consist of different market levels (developed, emerging and frontier markets). The study is a reference source for regional investors, manufacturers' managers and governments to make appropriate decisions in investing, managing and enhancing the development of the Southeast Asian manufacturing sector
Joint inversion of groundwater flow, heat, and solute state variables: A multipurpose approach for characterization and forecast of karst systems
No full textCharacterization of karst systems and forecast of their state variables are essential for groundwater management and engineering in karst regions. These objectives can be met by the use of process-based discrete-continuum models (DCMs). However, results of DCMs may suffer from inversion nonuniqueness. It has been demonstrated that the joint inversion of observations regulated by different natural processes can tackle the nonuniqueness issue in groundwater modeling. However, this has not been tested for DCMs thus far. This research proposes a methodology for the joint inversion of hydro-thermo-chemo-graphs, applying to two small-scale sink-to-spring experiments at Freiheit Spring, Minnesota, USA. In order to address conceptual uncertainty, a multimodel approach was implemented, featuring seven mutually exclusive variants. Spring hydro-thermo-chemo-graphs, for all the variants simulated by MODFLOW-CFPv2, were jointly inverted using a weighted least squares algorithm. Subsequently, models were compared in terms of inversion and forecast performances, as well as parameter uncertainties. Results reveal the suitability of the DCM approach for simultaneous inversion and forecast of hydro-physico-chemical behavior of karst systems, even at a scale of meters and seconds. The estimated volume of the tracer conduit passage ranges from approximately 46–51 m³, which is comparable to the estimate from the flood-pulse method. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the thermograph and hydrograph contain more information about aquifer characteristics than the chemograph. However, this finding can be site-specific and should depend on the analysis scale, the considered conceptual models, and the hydrological state, which are potentially affected by minor unaccountable processes and features
Alternative plant and fungi sourced fining agents in beer : A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master at Lincoln University
No full textClarity is an important visual characteristic of many types of beer. Non-biological chill haze is caused by interactions between proteins and polyphenols. To reduce this haze, fining agents are added to beer. These traditional fining agents such as gelatine often come from animal sources. Alternatively, there is increasing interest in non-animal-sourced fining agents that are environmentally sustainable while also being suitable for vegans and vegetarians. In this study, six alternative fining agents for beer from various upcycled plant and microbial sources were assessed. Out of all the alternative fining agents assessed, the mushroom was shown to be the most effective at reducing chill haze. While white grape marc was only slightly effective at higher doses. However, none of the samples assessed was as effective as gelatine at reducing chill haze. Other components introduced to the beer from the samples were interfering with the fining potential, and in some cases inducing the chill haze in the beer
Applying mixed methods to evaluate pro-poor interventions for a pork value chain in southern Myanmar
No full textApplying mixed methods to evaluate pro-poor interventions for a pork value chain in southern Myanmar
Introduction Pro-poor value chain approaches are common within development initiatives to improve smallholder incomes, but few deal adequately with the complexities of these chains, limiting their ability to quantify, ex-ante, the impacts of chain interventions. The research described in this review applied participatory methods to engage stakeholders in the process of building a system dynamics (SD) model that accommodated complexity and allowed trade-off analysis across chain actors when simulating the effects of chain interventions on incomes and livelihoods. This review shows how these qualitative and quantitative research methods combined to generate information that informed decision making at relatively low cost.
Data, methods and results
The research used participatory spatial group model building (SGMB) and reference group (RG) sessions in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected to co-construct SD models with chain stakeholders. We used five sequential SGMB workshops, attended by 13 value chain actors (>50% female) including pig producers, brokers, butchers, and wholesalers. The RG sessions involved subject matter experts who helped refine SGMB outputs and the SD model by triangulating data and analysing preliminary results. An average of eight people attended RG sessions, with 25% female representation. The SD model developed for the pork value chain comprised seven modules, each representing a sub-sector of the pork value chain. The model extended recent agri-food models by creating additional modules covering the provision of formal credit in the system, collective marketing by producer groups (PGs) and collective value-adding by producer organisations (POs). A production module covered biological processes of pig production and alternative farming and marketing systems within 32 target villages. Simulations showed that a well-sequenced combination of technical training, collective action, disease prevention, and micro and meso-credit would deliver the best outcomes for small-scale pig producers and intermediaries. While some farmers can successfully upgrade their enterprises with the assistance of just one or two interventions, poorer farmers require more layered support. Greater inclusion and better financial outcomes can be achieved by directing project investments to broadly support a smaller number of committed smallholders within functional producer groups rather than spreading project investments across large target groups.
Conclusion
Testing interventions in a participatory SD modelling environment is a cost-effective way of evaluating pro-poor interventions in agricultural development projects. This approach is particularly applicable to complex agri-food value chains where interventions often create winners at the expense of losers, and result in unintended negative consequences that manifest long after implementation. It is also a useful way of generating collaboration among chain stakeholders
A multifarious exploration of synaptic tagging and capture hypothesis in synaptic plasticity: Development of an integrated mathematical model and computational experiments
No full textThe synaptic tagging and capture (STC) hypothesis not only explain the integration and association of synaptic activities, but also the formation of learning and memory. The synaptic pathways involved in the synaptic tagging and capture phenomenon are called STC pathways. The STC hypothesis provides a potential explanation of the neuronal and synaptic processes underlying the synaptic consolidation of memories. Several mechanisms and molecules have been proposed to explain the process of memory allocation and synaptic tags, respectively. However, a clear link between the STC hypothesis and memory allocation is still missing because the encoding of memories in neural circuits is mainly associated with strongly recurrently connected groups of neurons. To explore the mechanisms of potential synaptic tagging candidates and their involvement in the process of memory allocation, we develop a mathematical model for a single dendritic spine based on five essential criteria of a synaptic tag. By developing a mathematical model, we attempt to understand the roles of the potentially critical molecular networks underlying the STC and the essential attributes of a synaptic tag. We include essential memory molecules in the STC model that have been identified in earlier studies as crucial for STC pathways. CaMKII activation is critical for the setting of the initial tag; however, coordinated activities with other kinases and the biochemical pathways are necessary for the tag to be stable. PKA modulates NMDAR-mediated Ca²⁺ signalling. Similarly, PKA and ERK crosstalk is essential for Ca²⁺ - mediated protein synthesis during L-LTP. Our theoretical model explains the quantitative contribution of Tags and protein synthesis during L-LTP in synaptic strength
Analyzing the impact and evolution of ocean & coastal management: 30 years in retrospect
No full textOcean & Coastal Management (OCMA) has significantly contributed to international ocean and coastal management, policy-making, governance, and other related research fields. This article highlights the contributions OCMA has made in these areas by summarizing the trends in 3782 articles published from 1992 to 2021. Using bibliometric and knowledge graph visualization analyses, this article systematically reviews the historical research contributions in each field and identifies emerging topics in recent years, such as the Blue Economy, shipping, and marine litter. OCMA has made a substantial positive impact on global ocean and coastal management by fostering collaboration among scholars and practitioners, advancing policy and regulatory development, enhancing management practices, increasing public awareness of environmental protection, and promoting sustainable development. In addition to its critical academic role in the field of ocean and coastal management, OCMA has also facilitated advancements in related research and practice (such as coastal erosion, litter, port management), ultimately contributing to the protection of global ocean and coastal ecosystems