3,498 research outputs found
A hedonic model of lamb carcass attributes
No full textLamb carcass value is widely reported to be a function of lean meat yield, which is the relationship between muscle, fat and bone. Five retailers and five wholesalers assessed 47 lamb carcasses from diverse genotypes and scored seven attributes. A hedonic model reveals that conformation attributes were more highly valued (16 c/kg) relative to yield characteristics (4 c/kg). Meat colour and fat distribution were significant for retailers, but less important for wholesalers. Genotype was not a strong indicator of conformation. Eye muscle area and depth were correlated with Fat C; however, these were not significant. These results indicate that carcass conformation, meat colour and fat distribution should be incorporated into carcass grading models.Hedonic, lamb, conformation and meat value, attributes, Livestock Production/Industries,
Running Back D.J. Hancock Awarded Full Athletics Scholarship Following Practice
No full textGardner-Webb head football coach Tre Lamb singled out D.J. Hancock at the conclusion of a rainy Thursday afternoon practice and by the end of the day the redshirt sophomore was all smiles. Lamb surprised Hancock, a walk-on from Summerville (S.C.) High, with a full athletics scholarship.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/3137/thumbnail.jp
ANALYSIS OF MARKETING MARGINS IN THE U.S. LAMB INDUSTRY
No full textFactors affecting marketing margins were identified and assessed using a relative price spread technique. Margins were disaggregated into slaughter-to-wholesale and wholesale-to-retail for a more complete understanding. Marketing costs, concentration, demand, and price were used to explain variations within these margins. Results showed that packer concentration had a significant effect on margins. Forces of supply and demand (as represented by production and market price) and changes in marketing costs also explained the variation in margins. A higher degree of price transmission from slaughter-to-wholesale level was observed in comparison to the wholesale-to-retail level.Marketing,
Temperature Influence Compensation for Lamb Wave Damage Detection
No full textAmong structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques, Lamb waves is frequently used as diagnostic tools to detect damage in plate-like structures. Temperature variation can cause significant changes in guided-wave propagation and transduction for SHM. In this paper, controlled experiments examine changes in Lamb wave propagation and transduction using PZT-5A piezoelectric wafers under quasi-statically varying temperature (from 5°C to 60°C). The baseline selection method and baseline signal stretch method are used to compensate the temperature influence on Lamb wave propagation. The results of the experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the temperature compensation approach and the simulated damage on the plate can be detected effectively under elevated temperatures environment.</jats:p
Longitudinal studies of intramammary infection in suckler ewes
No full textFour longitudinal studies were conducted. The first study investigated the
longitudinal pattern of udder half somatic cell count (HSCC) and intramammary
infection (IMI) in 48 UK suckler ewes over the first 10 weeks of lactation. This was
the first study to demonstrate that HSCC of suckler ewes followed a quadratic and
cubic relationship with days in lactation over the first 10 weeks of lactation. Udder
half somatic cell count was also explained by presence of bacteria. Ewes older than 6
years of age had significantly higher HSCC than younger ewes.
The second study investigated the relationships between udder conformation, SCC
and lamb weight. Whilst accounting for lamb age and birth weight, significantly
lower lamb weight was associated with a ewe SCC of >400,000 cells/ml (-1.7 kg), a
traumatic teat lesion (bite, tear or chapping) 2 weeks previously (-1.1 kg), and a ewe
body condition score (BCS) of <2.5 before lambing (-1.3kg). Higher HSCCs were
observed in ewes with a lower suspended udder, and older ewes in poorer body
condition. The findings from this study make an important contribution to the
knowledge of the impact of udder health of suckler ewes by demonstrating that udder
conformation is associated with IMI and that IMI and teat damage are negatively
associated with lamb weight.
The third study investigated the effect of dry cow therapy (DCT) on subclinical
mastitis in a lowland flock with a low incidence of clinical mastitis by recording
HSCC and lamb weights in the following lactation. To the author’s knowledge, there
are no published reports of the effect of broad spectrum DCT on subclinical mastitis
in suckler ewes in the literature. No significant effect was found between the use of
DCT and HSCC or lamb weight in the subsequent lactation.
The fourth study was a randomised controlled trial to assess the effect of DCT on
clinical mastitis in a suckler flock with a high level of clinical mastitis. Dry cow
treatment significantly reduced the incidence of clinical mastitis over one year, with
a 70% reduction of clinical mastitis in ewes that received treatment from 6.2% to
1.8%. This was the first field trial to investigate and demonstrate the clinical benefit
of the use of a broad spectrum DCT in suckler ewes.
These studies have enhanced our knowledge of longitudinal patterns of infection and
demonstrated the importance of udder health for optimising production of suckler
ewes. Factors to control for when using SCC as a tool to measure intramammary
infection were described
A phased array-based method for damage detection and localization in thin plates
No full textA method for damage localization based on the phased array idea has been developed. Four arrays oftransducers are used to perform a beam-forming procedure. Each array consists of nine transducersplaced along a line, which are able to excite and register elastic waves. The A0 Lamb wave mode hasbeen chosen for the localization method. The arrays are placed in such a way that the angulardifference between them is 458 and the rotation point is the middle transducer, which is common for allthe arrays. The idea has been tested on a square aluminium plate modeled by the Spectral Element Method. Two types of damage were considered, namely distributed damage, which was modeled asstiffness reduction, and cracks, modeled as separation of nodes between selected spectral elements.The plate is excited by a wave packet. The whole array system is placed in the middle of the plate.Each linear phased array in the system acts independently and produces maps of a scanned fieldbased on the beam-forming procedure. These maps are made of time signals (transferred to spacedomain) that represent the difference between the damaged plate signals and those from the intactplate. An algorithm was developed to join all four maps. The final map is modified by proposed signal processing algorithm to indicate the damaged area of the plate more precisely. The problem fordamage localization was investigated and exemplary maps confirming the effectiveness of theproposed system were obtained. It was also shown that the response of the introduced configurationremoves the ambiguity of damage localization normally present when a linear phased array is utilized.The investigation is based exclusively on numerical data
Female Adolescent Sexual Development and Empowerment: What Ought a Sexual Education Curriculum Contribute?
No full textRuyter, D.J. de [Promotor]Steutel, J.W. [Promotor
Rapporteur’s report – innovative geotechnologies for energy transition
No full textThe 9th Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) International Conference on Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) closed with a Rapporteur’s report given by the author. This paper provides a record of that report, transcribed from a video recording. The presentation slides are shown as Figures.</p
DEFRApH - Sample collection and handling procedures
No full textAll chemical and biogeochemical process in the sea are affected by the acidity of the water. Acidity is therefore fundamental property of seawater. The growing concern that the acidity of the oceans might be increasing has revealed weaknesses in our knowledge of this fundamental property and its variation in space and time. In 2008 the DEFRApH project (DEFRA contract ME4133) was initiated to provide this missing information in UK related waters. It required sampling for and analysis of the total inorganic carbon and total alkalinity content of samples. This reports documents the procedures sued for sampling. A companion document Hartman Dumousseaud and Roberts (NOC Internal Document No. 01) describes in detail the analytical procedures used and the calculation of the results
Determining the impact of protozoan and strongylid parasites on meat lamb productivity: Utilising molecular diagnostic methods for the detection of internal parasites in lambs
No full textInternal parasites (strongylid gastrointestinal helminths) have been reported to decrease lamb productivity in extensive grazing sheep enterprises. Increased interest into intestinal, protozoan parasites; Cryptosporidium and Giardia, has arisen due to their potential public health risks. Little research has examined their prevalence and impact on productivity in extensively managed livestock. Despite molecular diagnostic techniques having the capability to facilitate rapid identification, improve control and enhance prevention strategies for disease pathogens, little investigation has been conducted to compare molecular tests with traditional diagnostic methods.
Longitudinal studies observed that 47–81% of lambs sampled, tested positive for Cryptosporidium or Giardia at least once in their lives over five sampling occasions. Cryptosporidium xiaoi and G. duodenalis assemblage E were the most common species/genotypes isolated from Pingelly (Farm A) and Arthur River (Farm B). Zoonotic species/genotypes were also isolated but in low numbers. Cryptosporidium xiaoi was isolated on two occasions from dam water on Arthur River, while C. ubiquitum and G. duodenalis assemblage E were detected in dam water from Frankland. A novel, possibly new genotype (sheep genotype I) was identified in six Cryptosporidium isolates from Arthur River. Cryptosporidium parvum and C. ubiquitum were the most common species detected in Boyup Brook and Kojonup flocks.
Statistical analyses revealed lambs positive for Cryptosporidium on at least one sampling occasion had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages when compared to lambs never positive for Cryptosporidium for Farms A and B, respectively. On Farm B, lambs positive for Giardia on at least one occasion had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages when compared to lambs never positive for Giardia. Cryptosporidium-positive lambs at the second sampling were 3.84–4.72 times more likely to have non-pelleted faeces (faecal consistency score [FCS] ≥ 3), when compared to Cryptosporidium-negative lambs for Farms A and B. Lambs on Boyup Brook and Kojonup farms that were positive for Cryptosporidium, Giardia or both, were 2.4–14.0 times more likely to have non-pelleted faeces. Furthermore, a higher number of internal parasites detected per lamb was associated with lower body condition score (BCS) and higher FCS on the Boyup Brook and Kojonup farms. Cryptosporidium-positive lambs were 3.36–2.96 times more likely to have moderate to severe breech fleece faecal soiling scores (3 – 5), when compared to Cryptosporidium-negative lambs at the second sampling for Farms A and B. Live weight, growth rate and BCS were inconsistently associated with protozoa detection across different samplings and farms.
A further study compared the performances of two lamb flocks exposed to different natural strongylid larval challenges. A new innovative, molecular approach was developed to recover strongylid larvae from pasture, which had a strong, negative correlation (r2=0.91–0.95) with pasture larval counts used to detect and quantify strongylid larvae species on pasture. Flock L (exposed to a low larval challenge) had greater dressing percentages greater than Flock S (exposed to a higher larvae challenge). Within flock analyses of the Frankland flocks found lambs positive for Giardia at least once had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages, when compared to lambs never positive for Giardia.
A written questionnaire which surveyed 139 (41.4%) meat lamb enterprise owners/managers in southern Western Australia, found evidence of diarrhoea was reported on 64.8% of farms. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the source of livestock drinking water was associated with the incidence of diarrhoea. Lamb flocks that sourced water from a dam, were 117 times more likely to have active or recent evidence of diarrhoea. Overall, 10.1% and 14.4% of respondents were aware of Cryptosporidium and Giardia, respectively.
Comparison between a molecular diagnostic technique (identifying strongylid species by screening genomic DNA extracted directly from faeces) and the traditional McMaster WEC method, found high levels of agreement (kappa statistic ≥0.93) between the test results for detecting patent strongylid infections in two separate epidemiological studies. The findings that some lambs tested negative for strongylid infections while grazing pastures known to be infested with larvae, together with the strong correlations between WEC and the number of strongylid species detected per lamb, both suggest that strongylid eggs are the likely main source of strongylid DNA.
The findings of this thesis suggest that molecular identification of internal parasites is potentially negatively associated with phenotypic performance traits of lambs. Protozoa-positive lambs had reduced production performances (lighter carcase weights and reduced dressing percentage), when compared to protozoa-negative lambs. For such molecular techniques as that were employed in this research to be introduced into routine veterinary diagnostics, they need to: (1) quantify the magnitude of infections, (2) provide cost-benefits to sheep producers, (3) display consistent associations/correlations with phenotypic performance traits of livestock and (4) be cost-beneficial for diagnostic laboratories to conduct (sales volume and equipment costs). The future development of multiplex, real-time, quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays capable of detecting and quantifying multiple pathogen infections (parasites and bacteria) in a single assay, would facilitate the uptake of such tests for both veterinary and human diagnostic
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