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The effects of the ‘SLICK’ allele of the prolactin receptor gene on the cold stress response of dairy heifers : A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours at Lincoln University
No full textAnimal welfare concerns such as heat stress is becoming a more pressing issue under the increasing variability in climatic events in the temperate New Zealand dairy industry. Assessment of heat stress and management strategies are key areas of research, for which the SLICK allele is a potentital genetic management strategy for heat stress in New Zealand. However the interaction between this allele and cold stress is largely unknown. This research was undertaken to investigate the effects of the SLICK allele on the cold stress response of dairy heifers. Three groups of heifers representing the national herd genetics (Control) or, SLICK, and Non-SLICK, were investigated over 29 days between 13th June and 11th July in an outside grazing trial to identify any behavioural, or physiological responses to periods of natural cold stress. Control and SLICK calves (n= 6 and 7 respectively) wore SensOor accelerometers to monitor behaviour, and rectal temperatures were recorded on potential cold stress days. The frequency of cold stress days, which were determined as wind chill temperature falling below 0°C (dry) or 15.5°C (wet), were 7 days out of 29. SLICK heifers had 5% lower liveweight than control or non SLICK (221.9 vs 233.9kg, P = 0.62). However, there was no difference between treatments for liveweight gain, rectal temperature, rumination, active, or high active time. SLICK calves spent more time inactive compared with control calves (466 vs 426 minutes/day, p < 0.008). An interaction between treatment and date for eating time (minutes/day, p <0.05) showed that at high pasture allocation SLICK spent less time eating than control calves, but similar eating time under restricted pasture allocation. Differences in coat characteristics suggested SLICK heifers had an improved insulative effect compared with Non-SLICK heifers. SLICK heifers had a greater mean fibre diameter ( 36 vs 30, p < 0.005), medulation percentage (28.18 vs 22.3 %, p = 0.047), and greater percentage of coarse edge fibres (21.8 ± 1.79% vs 14.0 ± 0.90%, P = 0.005). Overall, the results suggest that under mild levels of cold stress conditions there are small differences in response to cold stress between heifers carrying the SLICK allele compared to heifers which do not carry the SLICK allele. Control heifers appeared to respond to cold stress through increased activity and increased eating time, whereas SLICK heifers appeared to favour inactivity and increasing insulative coat to conserve energy. However without strong temperature, or growth differences it suggests that the cold challenege is not strong enough to observe any different welfare concerns in SLICK carrier heifers
Ownership concentration, financial reporting quality and investment efficiency: An empirical analysis of Vietnamese listed firms
No full textPurpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among financial reporting quality (FRQ), ownership concentration and investment efficiency (IE) of listed firms in Vietnam, an emerging market in Southeast Asia.
Design/methodology/approach - Multivariate regression models are estimated to test the impacts of FRQ, ownership concentration and the interaction effect of FRQ and ownership concentration on IE. Two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators are used to control for endogeneity.
Findings - The results show that ownership concentration is positively associated with the IE of Vietnamese listed firms. The results also reveal that overinvestment decreases when there is an increase in ownership concentration. In addition, the authors find that FRQ is positively associated with IE and negatively associated with overinvestment and underinvestment. Moreover, the impact of FRQ on overinvestment is weaker in firms with concentrated ownership.
Originality/value - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to investigate the influence of ownership concentration and the interaction effect of ownership concentration and FRQ on the IE of Vietnamese listed firms. The results provide some managerial implications for Vietnamese listed firms and policymakers on how to mitigate firm-level investment inefficiency
Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: The co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia
No full textThis article aims to show that in-depth ethnography of processes and acts of sociotechnical tinkering provide a useful starting point for understanding how water knowledge co-creation works. This is even more relevant in countries with a strong legacy of settler colonization and continued power asymmetries between holders of different water-related knowledges and ontologies. Analyzing infrastructural and sociotechnical forms of tinkering helps understand how various water assemblages interact with official norms, strategies and laws. Drawing on the study of this tinkering practice, this article looks at how the people of Touho, in New Caledonia, assemble different forms of knowledge to understand, access and drink wate
Selection for early vigour in wheat modifies shoot and root epidermis cell size, numbers and competitive ability
No full textPoster presentation of the impact of recurrent selection for early vigour in wheat on cellular level
Against metaphysical interpretations of VR
No full textIn this chapter, the author argues against the standard interpretation of metaphysical interpretations of VR. The metaphysical orientation often frames the range of theoretical positions on VR through the binaries of real versus virtual, or reality versus fiction. This chapter argues that this framing is unhelpful and that the metaphysical approach to VR obscures and confuses the nature of the medium. One alternative analysis is that VR media involve the remediation of ordinary perception and agency through technical devices such as stereoscopic headsets, virtual audio, and haptic gloves. The chapter argues that stereoscopic headsets can be accounted for by employing theories of pictorial seeing familiar from the philosophy of the arts, and that such visual modes of VR media count as a form of egocentric and interactive picturing. Adopting this alternative theoretical approach has the dual effect of expanding our conception of the full range of fictive, non-fictive, documentary, and prosthetic uses to which VR can be put and deflating many of the ontological puzzles that motivate the metaphysical approach. The sceptical conclusion of this chapter is that the metaphysical puzzles concerning the virtual objects, worlds, selves, and values derive not from the nature of VR but are a species of more general philosophical worries merely prompted by specific, and often speculative and unrealistic, uses of VR
Edible landscape: Key factors determining consumers’ commitment and willingness to accept opportunity cost and risk of foraged food
Get PDFIntroduction: This study is dedicated to urban foraging and explores key factors that determine consumer willingness to try foraged food, willingness to spend time and effort, accept risk as well as make a commitment towards food foraging.
Methods: A conceptual model is presented where general perceptions of nature, food foraging, and Covid-19 influence 3 specific attitudes about food foraging which drive 4 behavioural intentions towards food foraging. The model was tested using partial least square structural equation modelling.
Results: Results emphasize that the strongest driver of willingness to try are the approval of responsible food foraging activities and the individual benefits of food foraging. For the willingness to spend extra time and effort, all the predictors have some impact. In terms of willingness to accept risk, approval of responsible food foraging activities and the societal benefits of food foraging are influential. For commitment to food foraging, the individual and societal benefits are the most important key drivers.
Discussion: These findings are of relevance to marketing managers in the food industry and gastronomy, as well as municipalities, landscape designers, and horticultural businesses
Optimal sample size and composition for crop classification with Sen2-Agri’s random forest classifier
Get PDFSen2-Agri is a software system that was developed to facilitate the use of multi-temporal satellite data for crop classification with a random forest (RF) classifier in an operational setting. It automatically ingests and processes Sentinel-2 and LandSat 8 images. Our goal was to provide practitioners with recommendations for the best sample size and composition. The study area was located in the Yaqui Valley in Mexico. Using polygons of more than 6000 labeled crop fields, we prepared data sets for training, in which the nine crops had an equal or proportional representation, called Equal or Ratio, respectively. Increasing the size of the training set improved the overall accuracy (OA). Gains became marginal once the total number of fields approximated 500 or 40 to 45 fields per crop type. Equal achieved slightly higher OAs than Ratio for a given number of fields. However, recall and F-scores of the individual crops tended to be higher for Ratio than for Equal. The high number of wheat fields in the Ratio scenarios, ranging from 275 to 2128, produced a more accurate classification of wheat than the maximal 80 fields of Equal. This resulted in a higher recall for wheat in the Ratio than in the Equal scenarios, which in turn limited the errors of commission of the non-wheat crops. Thus, a proportional representation of the crops in the training data is preferable and yields better accuracies, even for the minority crops
Climate change impacts and adaptation: a New Zealand dairy system : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master Master of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University
No full textPasture-based farming systems, as in New Zealand, are susceptible to changes in the climate through
feed supply variability. Future climate change will likely alter pasture growth patterns, posing
opportunities and risks that farmers will have to respond to and adapt to remain profitable. Due to
the heterogeneous nature of farm systems in New Zealand, adaptation strategies must be evaluated
on a farm-by-farm basis.
The main objectives of this research were to use a case-study methodology to evaluate the impacts
of climate change on a dairy farm system, and to investigate a range of farm management strategies
aimed to maintain productivity and profitability. The study was based on the Northland Agricultural
Research Farm (NARF; 35⁰56’39” S 173⁰50’34”E), using performance and farm management data
over three production seasons to set up a baseline farm. Whole farm systems modelling was used to
simulate climate change effects on the baseline farm in the middle and end of the 21st century. Two
dynamically downscaled climate change scenarios for the baseline farm were provided by the
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). These were used in the mechanistic
model, DairyMod, to simulate the effects of climate change on the pasture growth rates of the
baseline farm in the middle and end of the century under two warming pathways. These growth
rates were used in the whole-farm systems model, Farmax, to simulate the feasibility of the farm in
the middle and end of the century with altered pasture supply as impacted by climate change
projections. Tactical system changes were used to match the herd’s energy demand with the altered
pasture supply curves in order to re-optimise the farm system impacted by climate change. The
findings of this research identified that with the use of systems changes, farms in the Northland
region of New Zealand may reduce negative impacts on production and profit associated with
climate change.
A second round of modelling work was completed using the strategic adaptation strategy of utilising
alternative pasture species that may be better suited to the changing climate. Differences in the
morphological and physiological characteristics of the baseline and adapted pasture resulted in
different pasture supply curves impacted by climate change. These required more extreme system
changes compared with the baseline pasture. However, with the use of system changes, production
and profitability were maintained or increased compared with the baseline farm. Overall, this study
showed that with the use of farm system changes farmers may be able to capitalise on the
opportunities associated with climate change to offset the risks
Can women’s empowerment in livestock farming improve household food security? Empirical evidence from rural households in Malawi
Get PDFBackground: Over the years the Government of Malawi has launched several initiatives to improve food security in the country. Despite these efforts there have been limited improvements in food security, raising the spectre of persistently elevated levels of food insecurity. Efforts to reduce food insecurity may involve women who play a central role in the production, processing, preparation and control of vital livestock products for food security. However, women’s ability to achieve food security is limited by their lack of access to productive resources and limited ability to participate in decision-making. The main objective of this study is to estimate the impact of women’s empowerment in household livestock production and marketing decisions on household food security. Methods: This study uses data from a proportionate random sample of 400 households in two major livestock producing Extension Planning Areas in the Nsanje district to estimate the relationship between women’s empowerment and household food security in rural households in Malawi. Results: Tobit regression results show that the empowerment of women in the livestock sector, especially in decisions pertaining to agricultural production, nutrition, and income control, improves household food security. In addition, factors such as household income, household size, and the main occupation of the household head play a significant role in ensuring household food security. Conclusion: The results suggest that nutrition-sensitive programmes should target women’s agency in livestock production and nutrition decisions for improved food security among rural households in Malawi. As part of their food security strategy, Government of Malawi could develop programs to sensitize households on the importance of enhancing women’s agency in agriculture and nutrition decision-making, while also providing targeted income-support for women
The joy of winning or the relief at not losing: Reinterpreting rugby and nationalism in New Zealand
No full textThis paper challenges a longstanding interpretation of the relationship between rugby and nationalism in New Zealand during the twentieth century. Frequent international success by the All Blacks is conventionally coupled with the affirmation of a broader national identity and pride in the achievements of a small nation on the global stage. The passion for rugby and its status as something of a surrogate religion in New Zealand is generally equated with confidence in the utility of the game to unify the outlook of the country.
However, following in part from an analysis of those periods when the team enjoyed relatively less success, it is evident that many media and public reactions to the usual run of victories seem less about assertions of national pride and more about deep relief that the All Blacks had not lost. There is also a consistently introspective pattern whereby victory is attributed to the failings of the opposition and defeat is attributed to the failings of the All Blacks and seldom the ability of the opposition. Indeed, the history of New Zealand international rugby through much of the twentieth century reads as a chronicle of doubt and insecurity, sometimes bitter internal politicking, and a recurring desire to embrace amateur ideals as a counter to the apparent excesses of sporting nationalism