196,277 research outputs found
Texas A&M Law Review Fall 2020 Symposium: Containing Covid Catastrophes: Addressing The Effects Of Covid-19 On The Agricultural Industry Texas A&M University School Of Law
No full textTranscript from Fall 2020 Symposium, Containing Covid Catastrophes: Addressing The Effects Of Covid-19 On The Agricultural Industry Texas A&M University School Of Law
Featuring Panelists: Jim Bradbury & Greg Ibac
Defining and validating descriptors used in the Qualitative Behavioral Assessment of post-wean sows
No full textQualitative Behavior Assessment (QBA) can be a valuable approach in understanding farm animal welfare. It uses a holistic approach to capture an animal’s emotional state and promises improved detection of positive emotions, which sometimes can be difficult to identify using ethological-based methods. Lists of QBA descriptors validated to assess pig welfare exist, but definitions for descriptors of individual sows are not published. The objective of this study was to create and validate clear and specific definitions for a pre-existing fixed list of descriptors. A fixed list of 20 descriptors was partly modified from the EU Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for pigs to fit the context of post-weaned sows. Ten pig experts (i.e. researchers, veterinarians, technicians, farmers) were recruited to assist with defining these descriptors in a focus group-style discussion. Descriptor definitions were discussed and voted upon, with revising and re-voting as needed until an 80% agreement was reached. Half of these experts participated in a validation study. The newly developed definitions were tested by implementing QBA on a video library of post-weaned sows selected to capture a wide range of sow behavior. Principal component analysis identified two main components interpreted to represent the valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low) of each descriptor. Experts displayed almost perfect agreement in identifying the valence of descriptors (Kendall’s W = 0.91) and substantial agreement in the arousal (Kendall’s W = 0.66). Inter-observer reliability was also measured for each descriptor. Half of the descriptors evoked substantial agreement or better (Kendall’s W > 0.6) between the experts and only two descriptors exhibited less than moderate agreement (Kendall’s W < 0.4). These findings validate our process to delineate clear definitions for a fixed list of QBA descriptors in individual sows. This study is the first of its kind to detail the creation and validation of QBA descriptor definitions and paves the way for a more reliable use of fixed-list QBA to assess sow welfare and positive emotional states
A systematic approach to defining and verifying descriptors used in the Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of sows
No full textQualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is a welfare evaluation tool that uses a holistic approach to capturing an animal’s emotional state. Lists of QBA descriptors validated to assess pig welfare exist, but their definitions are often not described in peer-reviewed literature and the processes used to develop definitions are lacking. The objective of this study is to detail a systematic approach to creating clear definitions for a pre-existing fixed list of QBA descriptors and test their application. A fixed list of 20 descriptors from the EU Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for pigs was modified, and ten pig experts were recruited to assist with defining these descriptors in a focus group-style discussion. Half of the experts involved in creating descriptor definitions partook in a subsequent step, where the newly developed definitions were tested by implementing QBA on a video library of post-weaned sows selected to capture the breadth of sow behaviour. Experts displayed excellent agreement in identifying a PCA dimension interpreted as the valence of descriptors and good agreement for another reflecting arousal. Inter-observer reliability was also measured for each descriptor. Only two descriptors exhibited less than moderate agreement between experts whereas half of the descriptors evoked substantial agreement or better. These findings support our process to delineate clear definitions for a fixed list of QBA descriptors in pigs. This study is the first of its kind detailing the in-depth process of creating and verifying descriptor definitions for future use in sow welfare assessment
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
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