Research UNE Collection:

Improved performance of broilers by structural manipulation of feed: Evidence from gizzard development, nutrient digestibility, gut microflora and gene expression

2019-02-13T05:50:40Z

Title: Improved performance of broilers by structural manipulation of feed: Evidence from gizzard development, nutrient digestibility, gut microflora and gene expression Contributor(s): Kheravii, Sarbast K; Wu, Shubiao; Choct, Mingan; Swick, Robert Abstract: The legislation to ban the use of in-feed antibiotics in the poultry industry in European Union and voluntarily removal of antibiotics in animal feed have led to the emergence of wet litter problems, imbalanced gut microflora and reduced nutrient digestibility due to enteric disorders such as necrotic enteritis. Thus, the performance, health and welfare of broilers are affected and the profitability in the industry compromised. There has been a concerted effort to find alternative strategies to modulate gut microflora, augment the immune response and reduce pathogens through management and nutritional intervention, such as the inclusion of fibre and large particle size in diet, in an attempt to improve health and digestive efficiency of broilers. The current thesis examined a variety of strategies to minimise and tackle the issues that raised after the ban of in-feed antibiotics in the poultry industry. Chapter 1 presents the summary of literature related to fiber and ingredient particle size and their potential roles in poultry nutrition and management. Chapter 2 examined the effect of pelleted wheat straw as a bedding material on broiler performance, gut microflora and welfare in contrast to other litter sources commonly used in the broiler industry. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds reared on pelleted straw was improved compared (P<0.05) to that of birds raised on rice hulls. However, it was observed that the birds reared on wood shavings had higher relative gizzard weight at d 24 compared to those reared on pelleted straw (P<0.05). Further, birds reared on pelleted wheat straw had a lower incidence of foot pad lesions than those on chopped straw and shredded paper on d 24 (P<0.001) and 29 (P<0.01). The study demonstrated the potential benefits to using pelleted wheat straw as a bedding material.

Reviving Revenant Remnants: Guiding Revegetation Using Metapopulation Modelling for Improving Connectivity in a Fragmented Landscape

2019-02-07T05:27:11Z

Title: Reviving Revenant Remnants: Guiding Revegetation Using Metapopulation Modelling for Improving Connectivity in a Fragmented Landscape Contributor(s): Foster, Else; Reid, Nick; Rader, Romina; Drielsma, Michael Abstract: Habitat connectivity is vital for species population persistence but habitat loss and fragmentation is driving species decline across the globe. In order to respond to this challenge, conservation planners need ecologically relevant information to enable restoration of habitat and connectivity. The aim of this research was to use metapopulation theory and landscape ecology to provide biologically relevant guidance on how to improve landscape connectivity in a fragmented agricultural landscape, through an on-ground revegetation programme. In realising this aim, recently developed but not yet widely utilised methodologies were applied to a real-world conservation investment programme. These methodologies integrated concepts from metapopulation theory and landscape ecology to assess landscapes for their capacity to sustain viable metapopulations of a species of interest. A theoretical advance arising from this research was to develop the dispersal linkages as a stand-alone modelling component, hitherto a feature retained within the metapopulation model. New frameworks and syntheses of methodologies were developed in response to specific investment agency requirements but will have general application elsewhere. The study was conducted in the Border Rivers – Gwydir catchment in northern New South Wales, eastern Australia, as part of the Brigalow–Nandewar Biolinks revegetation project. The regional economy of the study region is based around agriculture (grazing and dryland and irrigated cropping), and native vegetation has been extensively cleared and modified for this purpose, resulting in relictual, fragmented and variegated landscapes.

A Study of Sadaq in Daniel 8:14, Its Relation to the "Cleanse" Semantic Field, and its Importance for Seventh-Day Adventism's Concept of Investigative Judgement

2019-02-11T04:05:44Z

Title: A Study of Sadaq in Daniel 8:14, Its Relation to the "Cleanse" Semantic Field, and its Importance for Seventh-Day Adventism's Concept of Investigative Judgement Contributor(s): Livingston, Eric Murray; Franzmann, Majella M Abstract: While the Hebrew word root p1~ has a broad semantic range, examination of usage in this work shows that it relates mostly to justice and judgment, often describing the just manner of judicial proceedings. A number of these usages depict contexts that Seventh-day Adventism terms 'investigative judgments'; that is, the preliminary judicial phase in which evidence is examined. The relevant usages of verbal p1~ span narrative, legal, historical, poetic (particularly the individual laments), prophetic and wisdom genres. It frequently relates directly to the general biblical 'good-vs-evil' metannarative. The complex wisdom of Job is very illuminating as here verbal p1~ is utilised a disproportionately high number of times, and in connection with themes developed in Daniel, particularly the notions of test, conflict among professing God-followers, judicial investigation, theodicy, and anthropodicy. Further, there is a manifest connection with the "cleanse" semantic realm in the book of Job, in parallelism and linguistic interchange or substitution. This p1~-"cleanse" linguistic interrelation, also seen in other places in the Hebrew scriptures, is important for the cultic context of Dan 8. It suggests a strong connection between the righting of the sanctuary in Dan 8 (p1~) and the righting or cleansing of the sanctuary in the Day of Atonement service of Lev 16 (1;-m and 1~J pi.). The visual imagery of Dan 8, such as the sanctuary and the ram and goat, combined with the intertextual cultic-judicial usage of p1~ and metaphorical meaning of cultic words like 1;-m, ;i:,r, and 1~J, further gives reason to connect the two passages. Therefore it is legitimate to make the interpretive movement from the apocalyptic Dan 8:14 to the cultic and typological Lev 16, with the common referent of an investigative judgment. To deny a linguistic (and thematic) connection is often due to the restrictive semantic methodology of determinacy. A modified indeterminacy both engages prior usage of p1~, particularly in contexts reflecting Danielic themes, and utilises the present Dan 8 sanctuary context as the final determinant of meaning. Consequently, the translation " ... then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (P1~J)" (Dan 8:14), reflected in the Septuagint, Theodotion, Syriac, Coptic, and Vulgate, is an appropriate rendering as it engages the metaphorical "cleanse" nuance significantly associated with p1~, as seen in Dan 11/12, and particularly germane to the sanctuary and related themes of Dan 8.

Quantifying daily methane production of beef cattle from multiple short-term measures using the GreenFeed system

2019-02-18T05:50:21Z

Title: Quantifying daily methane production of beef cattle from multiple short-term measures using the GreenFeed system Contributor(s): Velazco, Jose Ignacio; Hegarty, Roger; Cottle, David; Li, Li Abstract: On-farm CH₄ emissions have been identified as the largest contributors to the carbon footprint of livestock production systems. A requirement to quantify on-farm mitigation under commercial production conditions and a desire to establish the phenotype of thousands of ruminants for breeding programs, has fueled the development of techniques to estimate daily methane production (DMP) from short-term measures of methane concentration or methane flux.The accuracy, precision and applicability of these methods has been largely untested and forms the susbtance of this thesis. In assessing the accuracy of short-term emissions measures to estimate DMP, a high level of concordance was observed between DMP measured over 24h in a respiration chamber (RC) and estimated from multiple short-term measurement estimates using the GreenFeed Emission Monitoring system (GEM). Three independent experiments comparing DMP confirmed that estimates between methods differ by 5% to 8% (P>0.05). This implies that multiple short-term measures of emission rates are complementary to and consistent with respiration chamber-derived measures, providing capability to measure a greater number of animals, potentially in their production environment over extended periods of time. Methane yields (MY; g CH₄/kg DMI) were also derived based on multiple short-term emission measures, with results consistently within 10% of those calculated based on 24h RC data. The overall MY of animals consuming roughages was 21.8g CH₄/kg DMI using GEM data, in keeping with the 22.3g CH₄/kg DMI average in the literature. That implies that GEM units can not only accurately estimate DMP of cattle but also support accurate MY estimates that can be used in quantifying livestock emissions for national greenhouse inventory calculations.