Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Meat birds'

Ingestion of contaminated chicken meat is a major cause of Campylobacteriosis in Europe and the USA. The environment, including wild birds, is considered to be an important reservoir for chicken colonization. The aims of this study were to determine the population structure of Campylobacter amongst chicken and wild bird sources on a single farm, and to establish the extent to which genotypes flow between them and ultimately infect humans, using MLST and antigen sequence typing. A pilot study amongst farm animals and wild birds in Lancashire demonstrated that Campylobacter genotypes from human disease were common on the farm and could be isolated from more than one animal source. Between 30-50% of wild geese and Starlings were shedding Campylobacter, with a seasonal peak in shedding rate in Spring. Genotypes were divergent from those previously isolated from human disease, retail meat and farm animal sources, with the majority being restricted to the host source. The carriage rate of Campylobacter was between 70- 100% amongst 78 free-range poultry flocks tested at 56 days of age. Up to seven genotypes were found to co-exist within a flock, and genotypes varied throughout the year on a random basis. Some Campylobacter strains were isolated from one farm site only, but a small percentage of them had spread nationally and were stable over a period of a decade. A total of 23% of Campylobacter isolates from free-range chickens were indistinguishable to those from human disease, and 5% were indistinguishable from wild birds. A total of 6% of genotypes isolated from wild birds were indistinguishable from those isolated from human disease. Wild birds could not be completely disregarded as a potential reservoir of Campylobacter for both humans and poultry, but their role is likely to be limited.

Thesis (D. Tech. Environmental health) -- Central University of technology, Free State, 2011
In addition to one national park and six nature reserves, the Free State Province boasts several privately owned game reserves, as well as game farmers and commercial stock farmers who keep game. A survey conducted in 1985 showed that the majority of game could be found in the Xhariep District situated in the southern and south-western parts of the province. Game export abattoirs and processing facilities are situated in provinces other than the Free State, which results not only in an outflow of game carcasses for export purposes, but also a loss of employment opportunities and opportunities for the generation of foreign currency from a district (Xhariep) which, from a socio-economic perspective, is seen as deprived. There are 21 non-export highthroughput red meat abattoirs in the province, posing the question as to whether these could be used for the slaughtering of game. This study aimed firstly to compile guidelines for the wild game meat industry regarding the production of wild game meat for the international market and to assess wild game production and utilisation in the Xhariep District through a comprehensive survey of game farming practices, game numbers and species, as well as the utilisation of game through various consumptive and non-consumptive methods. A further aim was to investigate practices at existing slaughter facilities in order to determine their potential to be adapted into wild game meat export facilities and assess such potential via a standardised protocol. The research commenced with an investigation into processing and export requirements for wild game meat in South Africa through a literature study of all EU legislation, directives and other relevant literature on the subject, and provides comprehensive reference material for entrepreneurs and developers in the wild game meat industry. Methodologies utilised included audits to determine the extent to which abattoirs conform to the structural, operational and documentation meat hygiene requirements followed by the development of a novel assessment matrix for measuring the level of compliance of existing abattoirs and their potential to be developed into European Union (EU) export facilities. The survey of the Xhariep area concluded that a significant potential exists for the expansion of the game industry, as several respondents indicated that they were interested in expanding their game production and that they had land available for this purpose. A further indication was that the game would be highly marketable because it was free ranging and could be regarded as organic due to the absence or controlled use of additives and pesticides that could result in chemical residues in the meat. The establishment of a wild game export facility was favoured by nearly 70% of the respondents. The hygiene evaluation of existing slaughter facilities in the Free State Province resulted in six slaughtering facilities being rated as good or excellent, demonstrating the potential to successfully process game meat for the export market. This was tested by utilising the proposed evaluation matrix, which rated the abattoirs most suited to be adapted into game meat processing facilities for export purposes. The value of this approach lies in the fact that it is not only restricted to local markets, but can be utilised internationally by the abattoir industry, as well as the fact that it is not species specific. It should, however, be applied objectively by knowledgeable operators in the industry. It is concluded that institutions in the Free State Province possess the knowledge and ability to not only produce wild game meat, but also to successfully process this commodity through the optimal utilisation of existing high-throughput red meat abattoirs. By utilising existing management skills and affecting relatively minimal adjustments to existing structures, these resources should be utilised to successfully enter the wild game meat export market which should, in turn contribute towards the prosperity of the Xhariep District.

Resumo: Avaliou-se o efeito da utilização de óleo de linhaça na ração de frangos de corte, substituindo o óleo de soja em diferentes períodos, sobre o desempenho, composição de carcaça e características físico-químicas da carne. Foram utilizadas 320 aves, recebendo ração suplementada com óleo de soja ou linhaça, num arranjo fatorial 4x2 (4 períodos crescentes recebendo dieta com óleo de linhaça e dois sexos). O desempenho foi avaliado por pesagens da ração e das aves nos dias 1, 21, 42 e 49, quando as aves foram abatidas. Após o abate, foi avaliado o rendimento de carcaça e a proporção dos principais cortes, vísceras e gordura abdominal. Foram avaliados os teores de lipídeos totais, umidade e colesterol na carne do peito e das coxas com sobrecoxas. A estabilidade da fração lipídica da carne mantida sob congelamento foi avaliada pelo método do ácido 2-tiobarbitúrico (TBA). A textura da carne foi avaliada pela determinação da força de cisalhamento em texturômetro. O óleo de linhaça na ração, de forma geral, prejudicou os parâmetros de desempenho avaliados (P<0,05). As fêmeas apresentaram maior proporção de peito e maior quantidade de gordura abdominal que os machos (p<0,05). As aves alimentadas com ração contendo óleo de linhaça apresentaram menor proporção de gordura abdominal e teores mais baixos de lipídeos totais e colesterol na carne do que aquelas alimentadas exclusivamente com ração contendo óleo de soja (p<0,05). Os resultados observados não permitiram uma avaliação conclusiva quanto à influência do sexo e das fontes de óleo da ração sobre a textura da carne e sua estabilidade à oxidação lipídica.
Abstract: This work studied the effects of the utilization of linseed oil in broilers feeds as a substituent to soybean oil at different periods on performance and carcass composition of Cobb broilers, well as on the physicalchemical traits of their meat. Three hundred twenty birds were raised with linseed or soybean oil in the feed in a 4x2 factorial arrangement of treatments (4 growing periods receiving the experimental diets and 2 sexes). Performance was evaluated by the weighs of feeds and birds at days 1, 21, 42 and 49 of the experiment. After slaughtering, as the birds were 49 days old, carcass yield and percentages of main cuts, viscera and abdominal fat were quantified. Total lipids, moisture and cholesterol contents in breast and thighs were determined. The stability of the lipidic fraction in frozen meat was determined by the tiobabituric acid (TBA) methodology. Meat shear force was analyzed in a texturometer. In a general sense, linseed oil was harmful to broilers performance (P<0.05). Female broilers had higher breast percentage and more abdominal fat than male broilers (P<0.05). Birds fed linseed oil had less abdominal fat and lower total lipids and cholesterol contents in the meat than those fed soybean oil (P<0.05). Results did not lead to a conclusion about the influence of sex and oil source on meat texture and stability to lipid oxidation.
Orientador: Marcos Franke Pinto
Coorientador: Elisa Helena Giglio Ponsano
Banca: Manoel Garcia Neto
Banca: Jacira dos Santos Isepon
Mestre

’Flight’ is a program that uses flight mechanics to estimate the flight range of birds. This program, used by ornithologists, is only available for Windows OS. It requires manual imputation of body measurements and constants (one observation at a time) and this is time-consuming. Therefore, the first task is to implement the methods in R, a programming language that runs on various platforms. The resulting package named flying, has three advantages; first, it can estimate flight range of multiple bird observations, second, it makes it easier to experiment with different settings (e.g. constants) in comparison to Flight and third, it is open-source making contribution relatively easy. Uncertainty and global sen- sitivity analyses are carried out on body measurements separately and with various con- stants. In doing so, the most influential body variables and constants are discovered. This task would have been near impossible to undertake using ’Flight’. A comparison is made amongst the results from a crude partitioning method, generalized additive model, gradi- ent boosting machines and quasi-Monte Carlo method. All of these are based on Sobol’s method for variance decomposition. The results show that fat mass drives the simulations with other inputs playing a secondary role (for example mechanical conversion efficiency and body drag coefficient).

New Zealand mutton bird or tītī (Puffinus griseus and order procellariiformes) nest in New Zealand during the summer months, migrate to the northern hemisphere during May and return in September. Their eggs are laid during November and December and the chicks are hatched in the following January and February. Large numbers of them are harvested from April to May in New Zealand. They are wild seabirds annually harvested by Maori according to the customary rights agreement set by Treaty of Waitangi.NZ mutton birds also called Sooty Shearwaters are noted for their high proportion of body fat.These birds are interesting since its sole diet is based on krill and other small marine organisms that are potentially rich in n-3 fatty acids and other marine bioactive compounds. The proximate composition, fatty and amino acids and cholesterol content of mutton bird pectoral muscle were determined and compared with other common meat to explore the nutritional value of this New Zealand delicacy. The concentration of twenty two essential and toxic elements including silver (Ag), aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), selenium (Se), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), boron (B), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), sulphur (S), sodium (Na) and cobalt (Co) and zinc (Zn) in mutton bird breast meat (Puffinus griseus) were measured over two years to evaluate its safety for human consumption. Persistent organochlorine, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and their metabolites, and aldrin and lindane were also measured.Twenty bird carcasses were purchased in both 2006 and 2007 from a local source. Meat samples from the pectoral muscle of two carcasses were pooled to generate 10 samples for each year. These were used for trace element analysis using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Trace elements were in the range of 0 to 1.09 mg/kg wet weight for Ag, 0 to 3.32 for Al, 0.17 to 0.79 for As, 0.01 to 0.07 for Cd, 0.03 to 0.15 for Cr, 3.56 to 4.88 for Cu, 0 to 0.15 for Hg, 0.22 to 0.50 for Mn, 0 to 0.09 for Pb, 0.66 to 1.18 for Se and 11.49 to 23.70 for Zn. In 2006, Ag, Al, Mn and Zn concentrations were significantly higher but Pb and Hg concentrations significantly lower compared to the 2007 samples (P < 0.05). Apart from one sample in 2006, all the samples were below the published maximum level for concern. However, our preliminary data indicated that the higher level of Cd and other metals in the skin of mutton bird may compromise the overall safety to humans consuming the skin of mutton birds. It is suggested that the evaluation of the metals in different parts and/or the whole mutton bird at different seasons is required to assure complete safety to the consumers.Furthermore, the nutritional value of mutton bird meat was studied over two harvesting seasons (2006 and 2007) to investigate the impact of seasonal variation. The moisture and carbohydrates contents ranged between 54.0 to 55.0 % and 2.8 to 3.0 %, respectively, and no seasonal effects were evident in these components. The values for fat and ash contents were higher and the protein content lower for birds harvested in 2007 compared with the 2006 values which ranged from 11.8 to 13.0, 10.3 to 11.7, and 20.3 to 18.5 % for fat, ash and protein content respectively. The major amino acids in mutton bird pectoral muscle were glutamate, aspartate, lysine, leucine, and arginine. Higher lysine concentrations and lower proline, cystein and methionine were found in mutton birds compared with the literature values for beef, lamb and pork. The essential amino acid content in mutton bird (43.8 and 44.9 % in 2006 and 2007, respectively) was slightly higher than those found in beef and lamb meats (42-43%).The major fatty acids detected were palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic and isomers (C18:1), eicosenoic (C20:1), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (C22:6), icosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C 20:5) and these accounted for approximately 77% of the fatty acids. The 3/6 ratio of fats from pectoral muscle was 1.3. The cholesterol concentration varied slightly in the two years with 184.4±37.37and 134.4±25.55mg/100 g fresh weight for 2007 and 2008 respectively. Mutton bird was shown to contain significantly higher cholesterol content (134.4-184.4) than other common meat such as chicken (80.3-88.9), lamb (62.3), fish (52.79) and beef (51.97). Overall, the nutritional value of mutton bird muscle was similar to or superior to the traditionally protein sources such as seafood and red meat. Annual variations existed in the composition of Mutton bird pectoral muscle but this is not of nutritional consequence but might be a useful indicator for ecological events such as feed availability and other environmental issues. Mutton bird seems to be a good source of essential minerals, Zn and Fe compared with other traditional meats source. Mutton bird meat is nutritionally as good as the major sources of red or white meats. It may even have advantages over the other common meats (beef, lamb, fish and chicken) due to its high protein and monounsaturated fatty acids (omega n-3 and n-6) content. However, its high cholesterol content may represent a risk factor for some people.

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Avaliou-se o efeito da utilização de óleo de linhaça na ração de frangos de corte, substituindo o óleo de soja em diferentes períodos, sobre o desempenho, composição de carcaça e características físico-químicas da carne. Foram utilizadas 320 aves, recebendo ração suplementada com óleo de soja ou linhaça, num arranjo fatorial 4x2 (4 períodos crescentes recebendo dieta com óleo de linhaça e dois sexos). O desempenho foi avaliado por pesagens da ração e das aves nos dias 1, 21, 42 e 49, quando as aves foram abatidas. Após o abate, foi avaliado o rendimento de carcaça e a proporção dos principais cortes, vísceras e gordura abdominal. Foram avaliados os teores de lipídeos totais, umidade e colesterol na carne do peito e das coxas com sobrecoxas. A estabilidade da fração lipídica da carne mantida sob congelamento foi avaliada pelo método do ácido 2-tiobarbitúrico (TBA). A textura da carne foi avaliada pela determinação da força de cisalhamento em texturômetro. O óleo de linhaça na ração, de forma geral, prejudicou os parâmetros de desempenho avaliados (P<0,05). As fêmeas apresentaram maior proporção de peito e maior quantidade de gordura abdominal que os machos (p<0,05). As aves alimentadas com ração contendo óleo de linhaça apresentaram menor proporção de gordura abdominal e teores mais baixos de lipídeos totais e colesterol na carne do que aquelas alimentadas exclusivamente com ração contendo óleo de soja (p<0,05). Os resultados observados não permitiram uma avaliação conclusiva quanto à influência do sexo e das fontes de óleo da ração sobre a textura da carne e sua estabilidade à oxidação lipídica.
This work studied the effects of the utilization of linseed oil in broilers feeds as a substituent to soybean oil at different periods on performance and carcass composition of Cobb broilers, well as on the physicalchemical traits of their meat. Three hundred twenty birds were raised with linseed or soybean oil in the feed in a 4x2 factorial arrangement of treatments (4 growing periods receiving the experimental diets and 2 sexes). Performance was evaluated by the weighs of feeds and birds at days 1, 21, 42 and 49 of the experiment. After slaughtering, as the birds were 49 days old, carcass yield and percentages of main cuts, viscera and abdominal fat were quantified. Total lipids, moisture and cholesterol contents in breast and thighs were determined. The stability of the lipidic fraction in frozen meat was determined by the tiobabituric acid (TBA) methodology. Meat shear force was analyzed in a texturometer. In a general sense, linseed oil was harmful to broilers performance (P<0.05). Female broilers had higher breast percentage and more abdominal fat than male broilers (P<0.05). Birds fed linseed oil had less abdominal fat and lower total lipids and cholesterol contents in the meat than those fed soybean oil (P<0.05). Results did not lead to a conclusion about the influence of sex and oil source on meat texture and stability to lipid oxidation.

Since its inception in the mid twentieth century, radar ornithology has provided scientists with new tools for studying the behavior of birds, especially with regards to migration. A number of studies have shown that birds can be detected using a wide variety of radar devices. Generally, these studies have focused on small portable radars that typically have a finer resolution than large weather surveillance radars. Recently, however, a number of researchers have presented qualitative evidence suggesting that birds, or at least migration events, can be identified using large broad scale radars such as the WSR-88D used in the NEXRAD weather surveillance system. This is potentially a boon for ornithologists because NEXRAD data covers a large portion of the country, is constantly being produced, is freely available, and is archived back into the early 1990s. A major obstacle is that identifying birds in NEXRAD data currently requires having a trained technician manually inspect a graphically rendered radar sweep. The immense amount of available data makes manual classification of radar echoes infeasible over any practical span of space or time. In this thesis, a system is presented for automating this process using machine learning techniques. This approach begins with classified training data that has been interpreted by experts or collected from direct observations. The data is preprocessed to ensure quality and to emphasize relevant features. A classifier is then trained using this data and cross validation is used to measure performance. The experiments in this thesis compare neural network, naïve Bayes, and k-nearest neighbor classifiers. Empirical evidence is provided showing that this system can achieve classification accuracies in the 80th to 90th percentile.

The drivers of fidelity and divorce of pair-bonded individuals, along with their fitness consequences, are of great interest as they influence mating systems, population structure and productivity, and gene flow. Socially monogamous birds offer an ideal opportunity to study divorce since they show great variability in the extent to which pair bonds are maintained. However, there has been little consensus as to whether divorce is a behavioural adaptation to improve a mating situation, or a consequence of other processes. Moreover, the biological and ecological correlates of fidelity are difficult to address because previous work has been based on indirect and potentially biased methods. Finally, in terms of process, the link between the process of mate choice and subsequent mating decisions has been largely inaccessible to study. My doctoral thesis addressed these significant gaps in our understanding of cause, process and consequence in the formation and dissolution of pair bonds in socially monogamous birds. I accomplished this in three principal ways. First, I conducted a robust phylogenetic meta-analysis on 84 studies across 64 species to assess the existing empirical evidence that divorce in socially monogamous birds is adaptive (in terms of breeding success). This analysis revealed that divorce is, in general, adaptive as it is both triggered by relatively low breeding success and leads to improvement in success. Next, I developed a novel probabilistic multievent capture–mark–recapture framework that provides joint estimates of survival and fidelity while explicitly accounting for imperfect detection, capture heterogeneity, and uncertainty in pair status. By applying this model to breeding data on a wild great tit population I showed that birds that remain faithful to their partner exhibit higher survival rates and are more likely to remain faithful in the next breeding season than do birds that change partners. Subsequently, I confirmed the generality of a survival benefit by applying the model to breeding data on other tit populations. Then, by applying the model to data from a population of mute swans, I showed that fidelity decreases the likelihood of skipping breeding and mortality in this long-lived species, and that these effects depended on age, individual quality, and immigration status. Finally, I investigated how the timing of pair formation influences breeding success and divorce probability using five years of data on the over-winter social behaviour of great tits. I showed that early pair formation had a positive effect on fitness components, influencing the likelihood of divorce only indirectly, through breeding success. Further, my work revealed that males, but not females, with higher numbers of the female associates in winter, and males whose future breeding partners were ranked low amongst these, divorced more often. My research makes a significant contribution to our understanding of divorce and fidelity, and generates a number of important implications for future studies. First, my work establishes that divorce is adaptive for breeding success. Second, my results highlight that survival is an important (and likely, widespread) fitness consequence of pairing decisions. Third, I provide a novel statistically rigorous modelling framework for estimating fidelity-rates and testing hypothesis about fidelity that overcomes many of the inherent biases in traditional estimates. Fourth, it provides the first evidence for a selective advantage of early pair formation in wild, thus highlighting that there are benefits to pair familiarity that manifest via social associations of individuals prior to breeding. Finally, my work reveals the selective pressures operating via the social environment can ultimately influence the mating strategies individuals adopt.

Les individus varient en termes de taux de survie et de taux de reproduction. Les variations de ces taux vitaux peuvent être reliées aux caractéristiques des individus tel que la masse et l’âge. Des modèles démographiques ont été développé pour prendre en compte ces variations dans les populations naturelles et permettre de faire des prédictions pour gérer les populations naturelles. Cependant, la quantité de données démographiques nécessaire pour construire ces modèles n’est pas disponible dans toutes les populations. Pour surmonter ce problème, j’ai pendant ma thèse décrit les patrons généraux des relations reliant l’âge et la masse aux taux vitaux chez les mammifères et les oiseaux. En utilisant les données de la littérature, j’ai pu décrire les patrons généraux de ces relations et mis en évidence les facteurs biologiques pouvant expliquer les variations de ces relations entre les espèces et les populations. Dans un premier temps je me suis concentrer sur le lien entre la masse des individus et leurs taux vitaux. J’ai montré un effet positif de la masse des jeunes sur la survie des jeunes. J’ai ensuite mis évidence l’effet des différentes causes de mortalité sur cette relation avec par exemple un effet négatif de la prédation sur l’intensité de cette relation. J’ai ensuite montré un effet positif de la masse de la mère sur la masse du jeune et enfin que la probabilité de reproduction d’une femelle est impactée positivement par sa masse. Dans une seconde partie, je me suis concentré sur le lien entre l’âge et la survie chez les mammifères. Pour décrire ce lien, nous avons construit une base de données MALDDABA compilant les relations reliant l’âge aux taux vitaux chez les populations naturelles de mammifères que nous avons extraits de tables de vie issues de la littérature. En utilisant ces données, nous avons démontré que les femelles vivent en moyenne plus longtemps que les mâles chez les mammifères en milieu naturelles. J’ai enfin décrit les avantages at les inconvénients des différentes métriques de longévité et proposé de nouvelles méthodes pour décrire la relation entre l’âge et le taux de mortalité. Avec cette thèse, je mets en avant l’utilisation des approches comparatives pour mieux comprendre quels sont les facteurs qui influence la dynamique des populations naturelles
Individuals varies in terms of survival and reproduction. Most of those variations in vital rates can be linked to individual characteristics such as age or body mass. Demographic models were developed to make prediction on those trait-structured populations and are now often used to manage wild populations. However, the amount of data needed to perform those models is not available for every populations. To overcome this issue, I tried in my thesis to assess the general patterns for the relationships linking age and body mass to the vital rates in birds and mammals. By comparing relationship extracted in the literature, I was then able to assess the general effect of body or age on vital rates as well as the biological factor explaining the variation of those relationships between species and populations. I first assess how body mass influence vital rates in birds and mammals. I demonstrated the positive effect of offspring body mass on offspring survival and showed how the relative importance of each causes of mortality influence this relationship, with for instance a negative effect of the predation rate on the intensity of the relationship. I also showed that mother body mass is positively related to offspring body mass and that heavier mother are also more likely to reproduce. On a second part I focused on describing the relationship between age and survival for mammals. We built a database MALDDABA compiling all relationships linking vital rates to age for wild mammals from life tables reported in the literature. Using life table data compiled in the database I was able to demonstrate that females live on average longer than males in wild populations of mammals. I then critically assess the metrics of longevity and provide new insight to describe the relationship between mortality and age. With my thesis I provided new views on the uses of comparative approach to highlight the major factors influencing the population dynamic in the wild

Investigations of cholinergic and adrenergic tone on heart rate (fH) and mean arterial pressure (Pm) during embryonic development have been conducted on numerous avian species. While these investigations have documented that adrenergic tone, a continuous stimulation, on fH and Pm is vital to embryonic development in the birds studied to date, development of cholinergic tone on fH has been shown to vary even within species. Further, past studies have been bias to focus primarily on precocial species while altricial species remain poorly understood in this context. The goal of this investigation was to investigate the role of cholinergic and adrenergic tone on fH and Pm of an altricial species, the neotropic cormorant (P. brasilianus) to address this bias. The embryonic neotropic cormorant possesses B-and-a adrenergic tone on fH and Pm at 70% and 90% incubation while cholinergic tone on fH occurs at 90% incubation. This pattern of control is similar to that previously reported for several species of precocial birds suggesting the development of tonic cardiovascular regulation may be conserved across avian taxa.

The global loss of biodiversity calls for robust large-scale diversity assessment. Biological diversity is a multi-faceted concept; defined as the “variety of life”, answering questions such as “How much is there?” or more precisely “Have we succeeded in reducing the rate of its decline?” is not straightforward. While various aspects of biodiversity give rise to numerous ways of quantification, we focus on temporal (and spatial) trends and their changes in species diversity. Traditional diversity indices summarise information contained in the species abundance distribution, i.e. each species' proportional contribution to total abundance. Estimated from data, these indices can be biased if variation in detection probability is ignored. We discuss differences between diversity indices and demonstrate possible adjustments for detectability. Additionally, most indices focus on the most abundant species in ecological communities. We introduce a new set of diversity measures, based on a family of goodness-of-fit statistics. A function of a free parameter, this family allows us to vary the sensitivity of these measures to dominance and rarity of species. Their performance is studied by assessing temporal trends in diversity for five communities of British breeding birds based on 14 years of survey data, where they are applied alongside the current headline index, a geometric mean of relative abundances. Revealing the contributions of both rare and common species to biodiversity trends, these "goodness-of-fit" measures provide novel insights into how ecological communities change over time. Biodiversity is not only subject to temporal changes, but it also varies across space. We take first steps towards estimating spatial diversity trends. Finally, processes maintaining biodiversity act locally, at specific spatial scales. Contrary to abundance-based summary statistics, spatial characteristics of ecological communities may distinguish these processes. We suggest a generalisation to a spatial summary, the cross-pair overlap distribution, to render it more flexible to spatial scale.

In dieser Arbeit wurde der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit sich die Habitatansprüche von drei Brutvogelarten, der Offenlandart Feldlerche (Alauda arvensis), der Heckenart Neuntöter (Lanius collurio) und der Waldart Schwarzspecht (Dryocopus martius), mit Landschaftsstrukturmaßen darstellen lassen, und ob sich Landschaftsstrukturmaße für die Habitatmodellierung eignen. Basis für die Berechnung der Landschaftsstrukturmaße ist ein Flächenschema des IÖR-Monitors aus dem Jahr 2013, welches aus Daten des AFIS-ALKIS-ATKIS-Modells (AAA-Modells) aufgebaut wurde. Dieses Schema bietet redundanzfreie Flächennutzungsdaten für ganz Deutschland. Da es nur flächenhafte Elemente enthielt, wurde es um gepufferte linienhafte Elemente, genauer um Hecken, Baumreihen und Feldwege ergänzt. Die Artdaten stammen aus dem Monitoring häufiger Brutvögel (MhB), ebenfalls aus dem Jahr 2013. Die Berechnungen der Landschaftsstrukturmaße wurden mittels ArcGIS-Modellen durchgeführt. Für die Feldlerche und den Schwarzspecht wurden die Landschaftsstrukturmaße Mean Shape Index (MSI), Mean Patch Size (MPS), Anteil geeigneter Habitate (Percentage of Landscape, PLand), Total Core Area (TCA), Fläche geeigneter Biotope ohne anthropogene Störeinflüsse (Fl_ungest) und die Kantendichte der Landschaft (Edge Density, ED) berechnet. Für den Neuntöter sind es MSI, MPS, PLand, Fl_ungest, die Kantendichte und die Fläche geeigneter Gehölzbiotope und Hecken. Es wurde aufgezeigt, dass teilweise höchst signifikante lineare Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Vorkommen der drei Arten und den Landschaftsstrukturmaßen existieren. Die damit erklärten Streuungen der Brutpaarzahlen sind allerdings relativ gering. Das Bestimmtheitsmaß B oder R² der Regressionsgeraden beträgt für die Feldlerche maximal 0,285 bei der Fläche ungestörter Habitate, für den Schwarzspecht maximal 0,332 bei dem Anteil geeigneter Habitate und beim Neuntöter lediglich 0,038, ebenfalls für die Fläche ungestörter Habitate. Der Grund hierfür ist, dass die Arten Ansprüche an die Habitate stellen, die sich nicht mit Landschaftsstrukturmaßen erklären lassen. Die Modelle der multiplen linearen Regression sind ungeeignet, um Brutpaarzahlen der Arten vorherzusagen. Ohnehin war es nur für die Feldlerche möglich, ein solches Modell zu erstellen, das höhere Bestimmtheitsmaße aufweist als die einzelnen Landschaftsstrukturmaße. Deutlich bessere Ergebnisse wurden mit einem Modell erzielt, das die Eignung der Landschaft und ihrer Struktur als Habitat anhand einer Bewertungsmatrix beurteilt. Hier wurde bestimmt, wie hoch der Anteil besetzter Untersuchungsflächen an der Gesamtzahl von Untersuchungsflächen einer bestimmten Gesamtpunktzahl ist. Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Punktzahl und Anteil besetzter Flächen wurde mit teils nichtlinearen Regressionsfunktionen dargestellt. Der Anteil erklärter Abweichungen (R²) beträgt bei der Funktion der Feldlerche 97,1%, der des Schwarzspechts 88,5% und der des Neuntö-ters 49,3%.

The intensification of the chicken meat industry over the past 50 years has resulted in a 400% increase in the growth rate of meat birds and a 50% reduction in feed conversion ratio, maintaining poultry as a cost-effective source of protein. Improvements have been a direct result of genetic selection for growth and feed efficiency (85-90%), advances in poultry nutrition and improved management practices. Despite production gains, performance variation remains both within and between broilers strains, which is a negative economic trait resulting in losses to producers and the industry alike. We therefore aimed to elucidate biological factors contributing to variations in growth and performance, particularly in meat birds. As growth has been repeatedly shown to be an immunological trade-off, the first study investigated whether functional changes in intestinal barrier function and innate immunity could be consistently linked to the phenotypic expression of feed conversion ratio (FCR) in meat birds. Genes in the small intestine were investigated between high- and low-performing phenotypes (selected on individual FCR), collected from three separate trials. There was no evidence linking flock performance variation with basal parameters of innate intestinal immunity in the ileum in this study. Higher variation in the expression levels of two genes, Toll-like Receptor 2 (TLR2) and membrane protein CD36 were of interest however, as both exhibit numerous overlapping and individual functions contributing to both innate immunity and fatty acid metabolism. A second study was conducted to investigate whether links between innate immunity and fatty acid metabolism could be contributing to variations in growth and performance. Total carcass fat %, carcass and blood lipid composition, key genes involved in fatty acid metabolism and selected innate immune parameters were investigated in meat birds, layer birds and F1 layer x meat bird crosses at d14 post hatch. The results indicated a total upregulation of fatty acid metabolism in meat birds when compared to the F1 cross and layer birds, for both fatty synthesis as well as β-oxidation in the liver, suggestive of altered metabolism. There was no evidence to suggest that any birds were exhibiting cellular hepatic stress or that fatty acid metabolism was interacting with parameters of innate immunity in this study. A third study used RNA-Seq to compare liver transcriptomes of meat birds, layer birds and their F1 cross. The objective was to identify differentially expressed (DE) genes between differing growth phenotypes to identify genes and biological pathways contributing to growth variations. Of the total genes identified, 155 were DE between all three groups. Transcriptional differences between the groups were large, particularly between meat birds and layers. Of the genes analysed, 19% were DE between meat birds and layers; 9.6% of genes DE between meat birds and cross; and 1.6% of genes DE between cross and layer birds. The most significant finding was the repeated enrichment of the FoxO signalling pathway, particularly genes related to cell cycle regulation and the insulin receptor. There was also a high correlation between FoxO pathway genes and bodyweight, as well as genes related glycolysis and bodyweight. In summary, this thesis explores several biological factors associated with growth and performance variation in commercial meat birds. The results indicated that intestinal barrier/innate immune function was not associated with the phenotypic expression of FCR nor was altered immune function detected with differential fatty acid metabolism between birds differing in growth potential. There was however significant evidence implicating the FoxO signalling pathway (via cell cycle regulation and altered metabolism) as an active driver of growth variations in chicken. We recommend further functional characterisation and analysis of this pathway, in meat birds in particular, to further characterise variations in growth and performance.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, 2017

Poultry meat is thought to harbour the most “human-like” E. coli strains, capable of causing both intestinal and extra-intestinal infections in humans. Furthermore, poultry meat is also known to harbour multi-drug resistant E. coli strains. In this study, extensive sampling of retail poultry meat products sold in major supermarkets and independent butchers in Canberra was undertaken. Phenotyping and genotyping of the E. coli isolated from the meat samples was then performed to better understand the evolution and diversity of these strains and their significance to human health. Using a whole genome sequence based approach, the strains were then compared to clinical and commensal human E. coli isolates to determine if there is transmission between the two hosts. A highly diverse population of E. coli in poultry meat was identified in this study. Although the exact contamination route is hard to determine, our findings suggest that poultry meat is frequently contaminated, not only with E. coli isolates from poultry birds but also significantly from other sources, possibly during processing chains and transport. In addition, the genetic structure comparison of human and poultry meat E. coli strains indicate that there is cross-transmission between the two hosts, but at low levels. Therefore, poultry meat serves as a low risk transmission route for zoonotic E. coli strains that can cause extra-intestinal infections. Our findings also suggest that the risk of exposure to intestinal or diarrheal pathogenic E. coli strains through poultry meat consumption and handling is even lower than exposure to extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strains. Furthermore, poultry meat in Canberra region does not serve as a highly significant carrier of antimicrobial resistant E. coli unlike several other countries. Resistance was commonly observed to antibiotic classes approved for use in poultry industries (like ampicillin and tetracycline), but was low for critically important antibiotics to humans which are banned in the industry (like fluoroquinolone and 3rd generation cephalosporins). In addition, no carbapenem and colistin resistance was observed, which has recently been identified in poultry meat products in many countries including China, United Kingdom, Denmark. Poultry meat in Canberra is therefore more frequently contaminated with E. coli strains from the birds rather than from other contamination sources.

Orientação: Rute Noiva
As lesões ósseas em frangos de carne têm sido um assunto amplamente estudado ao longo dos anos. O principal factor apontado como causa destas lesões é a contínua selecção genética a que as estirpes de carne foram submetidas ao longo dos anos, com o objectivo de aumentar a taxa de crescimento, a qualidade e composição da carcaça. Este estudo teve como objectivo averiguar as diferenças histológicas na ossificação de ossos longos em frangos de aptidão carne em relação a uma estirpe de aptidão dupla, que possam ajudar a explicar a maior incidência de lesões ósseas em estirpes de frangos de carne. Foram utilizados ambos os membros posteriores de 50 frangos Cobb 500 na idade de abate (50-55 dias, média de 1,5 kg), perfazendo um total de 100 membros posteriores e de 5 exemplares da estirpe ISA brown (42-49 dias de idade e média de 700g), perfazendo um total de 10 membros posteriores. Foram colhidas secções longitudinais da epífise proximal do fémur, incluindo a respectiva cartilagem articular, que foram fixadas em formol tamponado a 10%. Estas foram posteriormente descalcificadas utilizando uma solução comercial e processadas para análise histopatológica. As diferentes zonas de ossificação da epífise proximal do fémur foram divididas em cinco camadas: cartilagem articular / zona de reserva, zona de proliferação, zona hipertrófica, zona de ossificação superficial (> 30% de matriz ossificada) e zona de ossificação profunda (< 30% de matriz ossificada). Estas foram medidas em relação à espessura total do centro de ossificação da cabeça femoral utilizando software apropriado e os dados obtidos subsequentemente tratados estatisticamente. Foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas (para um intervalo de confiança de 95%) entre a zona hipertrófica e a zona de ossificação profunda entre ambas as estirpes testadas, sendo a zona hipertrófica consideravelmente mais extensa e a zona de ossificação profunda notavelmente menor no grupo de galinhas de aptidão carne. Este estudo indica que as estirpes de carne, que são preferidas pelo seu crescimento rápido e elevado ganho de peso, tendem a repousar consideravelmente mais peso em ossos que se encontram fragilizados por possuírem uma camada mais espessa de cartilagem hipertrófica (pobre em matriz extracelular) e osso apenas parcialmente ossificado, comparativamente à estirpe de crescimento mais lenta usada para comparação.
Bone damage in broilers has been a widely studied subject over the years. The main cause for bone alteration of this is the continued genetic selection that broiler lines have been subjected to throughout the years, with the purpose of increasing growth performance and carcass quality and composition. This study aimed to investigate histological differences in the ossification of long bones in broiler strains, compared to a dual-purpose strain, which might help explain the higher incidence of bone lesions in broiler lines. Both hind limbs from 50 Cobb 500 birds at slaughter age (50-55 days, average 1.5kg) and 5 ISA brown exemplars (42-49 days and average 700g) were used. Longitudinal sections of the femoral proximal epiphysis and respective articular cartilage were collected and fixated in 10% buffered formalin, subsequently decalcified using a commercial solution and later routinely processed for histopathological analysis. The different ossification zones of the femoral epiphysis were divided into five layers: joint/reserve cartilage, proliferation zone, hypertrophic zone, superficial ossification zone (>30% ossified matrix) and deep ossification zone (<30% ossified matrix). These were measured against the total thickness of the femoral head ossification center using appropriate software and the obtained data statistically analyzed. Comparison between the thickness of the various layers of ossification in the dual purpose and the broiler group resulted in statistically significant differences (95% confidence interval) between the hypertrophic zone and the deep ossification zone of the samples tested, the hypertrophic zone being considerably more extensive, and the deep ossification zone being notably smaller in the broiler group. This study indicates that broiler strains, which are prefered for their fast growth and weight gain will tend to rest considerably more weight on bones that are more fragile due to a thicker layer of hypertrophic cartilage (poor in extracelular matrix) and only partially ossified bone, in comparison to the slower growth strain.

The effects of dietary fat source and ginseng supplement level on the formation of primary (lipid peroxides) and secondary lipid oxidation products (malondialdehydes, MDA), as well as the fatty acid profile of chicken meats stored at 4°C for 11 days and at -18°C for 6 months were determined. After storage at -35°C for 9 months, chicken meats were cooked for qualitative descriptive analysis to determine the effect of dietary fat source and ginseng incorporation level on the organoleptic characteristics. In Experiment 1, the levels of lipid peroxides and MDA in meats were determined using ferrous oxidation in xylenol orange (FOX) and 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assays, respectively. Generally, they increased within the first 4 to 9 days of refrigerated storage and the first 3 to 4 months of frozen storage. There was also a corresponding loss of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), based on the fatty acid profile resolved using gas chromatography, during storage at both temperatures, while incorporation of ginseng preserved total PUFA in frozen breast meats. Feeding ginseng incorporated diets significantly inhibited (p<0.05) the formation of MDA in stored meats, compared to the controls. However, refrigerated and frozen meats derived from broilers fed the ginseng-incorporated diets had significantly (p<0.05) higher lipid peroxide concentrations than the control. Ginseng feeding was thus postulated to prevent lipid peroxide conversion to MDA. In broilers fed the vegetable oil-based diet, the relatively high PUFA content predisposed meat samples, especially in leg muscle, to promote the formation of lipid oxidation products after extended refrigerated and frozen storage. In Experiment 2, ginseng feeding to broilers preserved the flavor of meats, compared to the control. The meats originating from the vegetable oil-based diet, compared to those from the animal fat-based diet, retained less chicken and meaty aromas and possessed firmer texture significantly (p<0.05). In conclusion, ginseng feeding showed significant effects (p<0.05) in preserving total PUPA in frozen meats, inhibiting the formation of MDA in refrigerated and frozen meats, and retaining flavor attributes of cooked meats. However, feeding vegetable oil-based diets produced meats of significantly (p<0.05) firmer texture not seen in counterparts of broilers fed the animal fat-based diets.

This thesis explores three main questions: (1) How is diversity and equity in education in Manitoban schools addressed and does this include mixed-raced students?, (2) What are mixed-race students’ experiences with and perceptions of ethnocultural equity in the Manitoban secondary school system and how do these experiences impact their personal and collective identities in the following areas: Social (relationships with peers and family members), Political (notions of Canadian identity and citizenship), Identity (sense of cultural and racial identity and social positioning), Cultural (influences of related cultural groups and communities), and Pedagogical (instructional materials, relationships with teachers and staff, teaching practices and pedagogies, school policies and initiatives) and (3) What can educators and teacher-educators learn from this research that could be used toward a more informed and successful practice? Conclusions are that more work needs to be done to develop a provincial antiracism and ethnocultural policy document for development and implementation that will help establish a system of accountability and consistency, assist our leaders in understanding the complexities of mixedness, establish relationships with different relevant community groups and families, critically examine the curricula for bias, investigate student placement, provide opportunities for counselling staff, explore how to prepare staff to deal with racial and ethnocultural harassment, and consider the representation of mixedness in the staff population.
February 2017

Bird damage to fruit crops causes significant monetary losses to farmers annually. The application of traditional bird repelling methods such as bird cannons and tree netting became inefficient in the long run, keeping high maintenance and reduced mobility. Due to their versatility, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be beneficial to solve this problem. However, due to their low battery capacity that equals low flight duration, it is necessary to evolve path planning optimization. A path planning optimization algorithm of UAVs based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is presented in this dissertation. This technique was used due to the need for an easy implementation optimization algorithm to start the initial tests. The PSO algorithm is simple and has few control parameters while maintaining a good performance. This path planning optimization algorithm aims to manage the drone's distance and flight time, applying optimization and randomness techniques to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional systems. The proposed algorithm's performance was tested in three study cases: two of them in simulation to test the variation of each parameter and one in the field to test the influence on battery management and height influence. All cases were tested in the three possible situations: same incidence rate, different rates, and different rates with no bird damage to fruit crops. The proposed algorithm presents promising results with an outstanding reduced average error in the total distance for the path planning obtained and low execution time. However, it is necessary to point out that the path planning optimization algorithm may have difficulty finding a suitable solution if there is a bad ratio between the total distance for path planning and points of interest. The field tests were also essential to understand the algorithm's behavior of the path planning algorithm in the UAV, showing that there is less energy discharged with fewer points of interest, but that do not correlates with the flight time. Also, there is no association between the maximum horizontal speed and the flight time, which means that the function to calculate the total distance for path planning needs to be adjusted.
Anualmente, os danos causados pelas aves em pomares criam perdas monetárias significativas aos agricultores. A aplicação de métodos tradicionais de dispersão de aves, como canhões repelentes de aves e redes nas árvores, torna-se ineficiente a longo prazo, sendo ainda de alta manutenção e de mobilidade reduzida. Devido à sua versatilidade, os Veículos Aéreos Não Tripulados (VANT) podem ser benéficos para resolver este problema. No entanto, devido à baixa capacidade das suas baterias, que se traduz num baixo tempo de voo, é necessário otimizar o planeamento dos caminhos. Nesta dissertação, é apresentado um algoritmo de otimização para planeamento de caminhos para VANT baseado no Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Para se iniciarem os primeiros testes do algoritmo proposto, a técnica utilizada foi a supracitada devido à necessidade de um algoritmo de otimização fácil de implementar. O algoritmo PSO é simples e possuí poucos parâmetros de controlo, mantendo um bom desempenho. Este algoritmo de otimização de planeamento de caminhos propõe-se a gerir a distância e o tempo de voo do drone, aplicando técnicas de otimização e de aleatoriedade para superar a sua desvantagem relativamente aos sistemas tradicionais. O desempenho do algoritmo de planeamento de caminhos foi testado em três casos de estudo: dois deles em simulação para testar a variação de cada parâmetro e outro em campo para testar a capacidade da bateria. Todos os casos foram testados nas três situações possíveis: mesma taxa de incidência, taxas diferentes e taxas diferentes sem danos de aves. Os resultados apresentados pelo algoritmo proposto demonstram um erro médio muto reduzido na distância total para o planeamento de caminhos obtido e baixo tempo de execução. Porém, é necessário destacar que o algoritmo pode ter dificuldade em encontrar uma solução adequada se houver uma má relação entre a distância total para o planeamento de caminhos e os pontos de interesse. Os testes de campo também foram essenciais para entender o comportamento do algoritmo na prática, mostrando que há menos energia consumida com menos pontos de interesse, sendo que este parâmetro não se correlaciona com o tempo de voo. Além disso, não há associação entre a velocidade horizontal máxima e o tempo da missão, o que significa que a função de cálculo da distância total para o planeamento de caminhos requer ser ajustada.

In dieser Arbeit wurde der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit sich die Habitatansprüche von drei Brutvogelarten, der Offenlandart Feldlerche (Alauda arvensis), der Heckenart Neuntöter (Lanius collurio) und der Waldart Schwarzspecht (Dryocopus martius), mit Landschaftsstrukturmaßen darstellen lassen, und ob sich Landschaftsstrukturmaße für die Habitatmodellierung eignen. Basis für die Berechnung der Landschaftsstrukturmaße ist ein Flächenschema des IÖR-Monitors aus dem Jahr 2013, welches aus Daten des AFIS-ALKIS-ATKIS-Modells (AAA-Modells) aufgebaut wurde. Dieses Schema bietet redundanzfreie Flächennutzungsdaten für ganz Deutschland. Da es nur flächenhafte Elemente enthielt, wurde es um gepufferte linienhafte Elemente, genauer um Hecken, Baumreihen und Feldwege ergänzt. Die Artdaten stammen aus dem Monitoring häufiger Brutvögel (MhB), ebenfalls aus dem Jahr 2013. Die Berechnungen der Landschaftsstrukturmaße wurden mittels ArcGIS-Modellen durchgeführt. Für die Feldlerche und den Schwarzspecht wurden die Landschaftsstrukturmaße Mean Shape Index (MSI), Mean Patch Size (MPS), Anteil geeigneter Habitate (Percentage of Landscape, PLand), Total Core Area (TCA), Fläche geeigneter Biotope ohne anthropogene Störeinflüsse (Fl_ungest) und die Kantendichte der Landschaft (Edge Density, ED) berechnet. Für den Neuntöter sind es MSI, MPS, PLand, Fl_ungest, die Kantendichte und die Fläche geeigneter Gehölzbiotope und Hecken. Es wurde aufgezeigt, dass teilweise höchst signifikante lineare Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Vorkommen der drei Arten und den Landschaftsstrukturmaßen existieren. Die damit erklärten Streuungen der Brutpaarzahlen sind allerdings relativ gering. Das Bestimmtheitsmaß B oder R² der Regressionsgeraden beträgt für die Feldlerche maximal 0,285 bei der Fläche ungestörter Habitate, für den Schwarzspecht maximal 0,332 bei dem Anteil geeigneter Habitate und beim Neuntöter lediglich 0,038, ebenfalls für die Fläche ungestörter Habitate. Der Grund hierfür ist, dass die Arten Ansprüche an die Habitate stellen, die sich nicht mit Landschaftsstrukturmaßen erklären lassen. Die Modelle der multiplen linearen Regression sind ungeeignet, um Brutpaarzahlen der Arten vorherzusagen. Ohnehin war es nur für die Feldlerche möglich, ein solches Modell zu erstellen, das höhere Bestimmtheitsmaße aufweist als die einzelnen Landschaftsstrukturmaße. Deutlich bessere Ergebnisse wurden mit einem Modell erzielt, das die Eignung der Landschaft und ihrer Struktur als Habitat anhand einer Bewertungsmatrix beurteilt. Hier wurde bestimmt, wie hoch der Anteil besetzter Untersuchungsflächen an der Gesamtzahl von Untersuchungsflächen einer bestimmten Gesamtpunktzahl ist. Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Punktzahl und Anteil besetzter Flächen wurde mit teils nichtlinearen Regressionsfunktionen dargestellt. Der Anteil erklärter Abweichungen (R²) beträgt bei der Funktion der Feldlerche 97,1%, der des Schwarzspechts 88,5% und der des Neuntö-ters 49,3%.