Academic literature on the topic 'Veterinary and food sciences not elsewhere classified'

Korean has a large number of taste terms and the paradigm is continuously expanding since the lexicalization operates systematically on a few robust principles. Based on the taste terms collected from lexicons, dictionaries, web-postings, and elsewhere, we classified the terms and analyzed the lexicalization patterns. In addition to the widely-known five classes of tastes, i.e., sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami, Korean has three more classes in the basic category, i.e., pungent, fishy and bland. A large number of tactile sensory words to describe the touch sensations in the mouth at the tasting event and expressions denoting characteristic food texture and mastication also join in creating a rich taste vocabulary. The Korean taste lexicalization system is equipped with the means to signal diverse aspects of gustatory sensation, i.e., intensity, depth, purity and duration. Among such means are vowel polarity, consonantal sound symbolism, reduplication and onomatopoeia. The systematicity of taste lexicalization contributes to the plasticity of the paradigm, making the Korean taste vocabulary one of the most productive and elaborate paradigms.

The objective of this study was to identify the locations sensitivity to land desertification based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) approach by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the south of Maysan governorate at Iraq for mapping environmentally sensitive areas to desertification. Three indicators, which included climate, vegetation, and soil, were employed to estimate the ESAI and then to classify the land in critical, fragile potentially, and non-influenced sensitive areas. The results of the soil quality index (SQI) indicated that 25% of the studied area was classified as moderate quality and 21% was low quality while 54% was very low quality. Vegetation qualities were classified into moderate and low quality 19% and 81%, respectively, and climate quality was classified as moderate.

Winter wheat is one of the major cereal crops in China. The spatial distribution of winter wheat planting areas is closely related to food security; however, mapping winter wheat with time-series finer spatial resolution satellite images across large areas is challenging. This paper explores the potential of combining temporally aggregated Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI data available via the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform for mapping winter wheat in Shandong Province, China. First, six phenological median composites of Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI reflectance measures were generated by a temporal aggregation technique according to the winter wheat phenological calendar, which covered seedling, tillering, over-wintering, reviving, jointing-heading and maturing phases, respectively. Then, Random Forest (RF) classifier was used to classify multi-temporal composites but also mono-temporal winter wheat development phases and mono-sensor data. The results showed that winter wheat could be classified with an overall accuracy of 93.4% and F1 measure (the harmonic mean of producer’s and user’s accuracy) of 0.97 with temporally aggregated Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 data were combined. As our results also revealed, it was always good to classify multi-temporal images compared to mono-temporal imagery (the overall accuracy dropped from 93.4% to as low as 76.4%). It was also good to classify Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI imagery combined instead of classifying them individually. The analysis showed among the mono-temporal winter wheat development phases that the maturing phase’s and reviving phase’s data were more important than the data for other mono-temporal winter wheat development phases. In sum, this study confirmed the importance of using temporally aggregated Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI data combined and identified key winter wheat development phases for accurate winter wheat classification. These results can be useful to benefit on freely available optical satellite data (Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI) and prioritize key winter wheat development phases for accurate mapping winter wheat planting areas across China and elsewhere.

BackgroundThe diet of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is comprised almost exclusively of foliage from the genusEucalyptus(family Myrtaceae).Eucalyptusproduces a wide variety of potentially toxic plant secondary metabolites which have evolved as chemical defences against herbivory. The koala is classified as an obligate dietary specialist, and although dietary specialisation is rare in mammalian herbivores, it has been found elsewhere to promote a highly-conserved but low-diversity gut microbiome. The gut microbes of dietary specialists have been found sometimes to enhance tolerance of dietary PSMs, facilitating competition-free access to food. Although the koala and its gut microbes have evolved together to utilise a low nutrient, potentially toxic diet, their gut microbiome has not previously been assessed in conjunction with diet quality. Thus, linking the two may provide new insights in to the ability of the koala to extract nutrients and detoxify their potentially toxic diet.MethodThe 16S rRNA gene was used to characterise the composition and diversity of faecal bacterial communities from a wild koala population (n = 32) comprising individuals that predominately eat either one of two different food species, one the strongly preferred and relatively nutritious speciesEucalyptus viminalis, the other comprising the less preferred and less digestible speciesEucalyptus obliqua.ResultsAlpha diversity indices indicated consistently and significantly lower diversity and richness in koalas eatingE. viminalis. Assessment of beta diversity using both weighted and unweighted UniFrac matrices indicated that diet was a strong driver of both microbial community structure, and of microbial presence/absence across the combined koala population and when assessed independently. Further, principal coordinates analysis based on both the weighted and unweighted UniFrac matrices for the combined and separated populations, also revealed a separation linked to diet. During our analysis of the OTU tables we also detected a strong association between microbial community composition and host diet. We found that the phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were co-dominant in all faecal microbiomes, with Cyanobacteria also co-dominant in some individuals; however, theE. viminalisdiet produced communities dominated by the generaParabacteroidesand/orBacteroides, whereas theE. obliqua-associated diets were dominated by unidentified genera from the family Ruminococcaceae.DiscussionWe show that diet differences, even those caused by differential consumption of the foliage of two species from the same plant genus, can profoundly affect the gut microbiome of a specialist folivorous mammal, even amongst individuals in the same population. We identify key microbiota associated with each diet type and predict functions within the microbial community based on 80 previously identifiedParabacteroidesand Ruminococcaceae genomes.

The aim of current study is to detect Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, and B. divergens in ticks using molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. In a totally 180 cattle examined to collect of tick samples during December 2018 to August 2019, the findings were revealed on 63 (35%) cattle infested with ticks that classified morphologically to belong to the genus of Hyalomma and genus of Rhipicephalus. From 50 tick samples tested by PCR assay, 41 (82%) were infested by Babesia genus including 30 (68.18%) infested with B. bovis and 11 (31.82%) infested with B. bigemina; whereas, no tick samples were found to be infested with B. divergens. To document the local isolated strains, five PCR products of each B. bovis and B. bigemina positive strains were selected, sequenced and reported in the NCBI under the accession numbers of (MN727083.1, MN727084.1, MN727085.1, MN727086.1, and MN727087.1) and (MN741113.1, MN741114.1, MN741115.1,MN741116.1, and MN741117.1) respectively.

The study area was located in the North of Iraq. Five sites were selected that have formed from the limestone parent material. One pedon dug in each site and was divided into a number of horizons. Thirty-five soil samples were collected for physical and chemical analyses. The climate of study sites were similar to the Mediterranean Sea climate which is hot dry in summer and cool humid in winter. The mean of annual precipitation, varies from one site to another. Studied soils classified as Mollisols, Inceptisols, Vertisols, and Aridisols. Study soils were relatively high clay content and its content at the surface horizons is lower than it at subsurface horizons, and soil texture was ranged between clayey to loamy, the high value for clay content indicates to soil development. Fine clay/Coarse clay ratio showed that the pathway of fine clay similar to the pathway of total clay. CEC values increased with increasing clay. Organic matter was high in the surface horizons and decrease with depth. The following pedogenic processes occurred in study soils loss, gain, leaching, illuviation, eluviation, alkalization, humification, lessivage, desalinization, calcification, decomposition, and synthesis.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs or Drones have made great progress in the field of aerial surveys to study vegetation and farmland. The research focuses on developing smart systems for managing agricultural fields, thus facilitating decision-making, increasing agricultural productivity, improving profitability and protecting the environment. The paper highlights the ability of drones to distinguish agricultural land intended for cultivation and classified as deserted or cultivated or in the germination stage. For the first time in the Nineveh governorate, a Phantom 4 DJI UAV images were used, in addition to using the spatialized Pix4Dfielde program to process these images. Four types of the standard agricultural indices that rely on the visible spectrum have been used (Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI), Triangular Greenness Index (TGI), Synthetic Normalized Differences Vegetation Index (S-NDVI) and Visible Difference Vegetation Index (VDVI)) to test UAVs images and to categorize different types of agricultural land. The results showed that when using the S-NDVI and VDVI indicators, the values 0.16 and 0.14 appeared respectively in certain areas, which indicates the presence and integrity of vegetation cover, unlike other regions, whose indicators showed 0.010 and -0.004, respectively, which indicate that the plant has a bad condition or its absence at all. All results finding in this research reflect and confirm the validity of using UAVs images for agricultural field management and development.

Pomegranate fruits are infected by various diseases and pests, which negatively affect food security, productivity, and quality. Recent advancements in deep learning with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have significantly improved the accuracy of fruit disease detection and classification. The main objective of this investigation is to find the most suitable deep-learning architecture to enhance fruit disease detection and classification accuracy. The current study proposed an efficient deep learning-based approach to detect the most prominent diseases of pomegranate such as bacterial blight, anthracnose, fruit spot, wilt, and fruit borer. For experimentation, a total of 1493 stagewise diseases development images of fruits and leaves are captured via a camera of an interval of 25 days for a total of six months duration. Additionally, extensive data augmentation was performed to increase the dataset, data diversity and to achieve a more robust model for disease detection. For this, the performance of three CNN-based architectures i.e., ResNet50, ResNet18, and Inception-V3 on a real field environment dataset was measured. Experimental results revealed that the proposed CNN-based ResNet50 architecture has effectively detected and classified five different types of diseases whose symptoms are not well defined and with the capability to deal with complex backgrounds. The optimized ResNet50 model achieved 97.92 % test accuracy over ResNet18 (87.5 %) and Inception-V3 (78.75 %) on learning rate 0.001. The multiclass cross-entropy loss function is applied for determining the error rate. To deal with CNN ‘Black Box’ problem Grad-CAM model can be used in the future. The proposed method will help the agricultural industry in detecting the most prominent diseases of pomegranate, which are likely to cause a decrease in productivity, thereby avoiding economic loss.

This research of aims to study environment sensitivity of desertification and land degradation using MEDULAS project and remote sensing in AL-Shirqat City/Salahadin/Iraq. A 10 soil pedons were chosen from study area depending on difference in soil preperties, landuse and causes of desertification and degradation as (Salinity, Erosion, Gypsum and vegetation cover). Soil profile description, soil samples and GPS were conducted. The physical (texture) and chemical (CaCO3, CaSO4.2H2O, O.M, EC and pH) properties were determined. The Soil were classified as Torrifluvents in the (P1, P2, P3), Torripsamments in the (P5 and P7), Calcigypsids in the (P6, P8 and P10) and Calcids in the P4. The landsat 8 image at 20sep. 2019 and 19 sep. 2013 were aquired in the spectral indices calculate and spatial maps by using ERDAS 15 and GIS 10.2. The result show contrast in soil propreties as sand, clay, soil gypsum, CaCO3, OM and EC that reflect on Soil Quality Index (SQI) which were (60)% poor quality and (40)% moderate quality degradation. While (19.10) % that moderate quality and 80.90% that poor quality for Vegetation Quality Index. The results show that 0.1% of the study area is classified as C1; 25.35% as C2; 74.55% of the areas as C3. The spectral indices as LAI, SI5, OSAVI were approporiate for monitor of desertification and degradation in study area. Add, spatial change in the spectral indices as NDVI and LAI. The results shown that MEDALUS model is a important model in the areas disposed to desertification and degradation.

This study was aimed to investigate the morphologic, macroscopic, and microscopic description with the paper pulp quality index was determined to facilitate its increased use and to analyze the variation of wood properties. Among different morphological characteristics Q. aegilops registered mean height (13.63 m) and diameter (26.04 cm), while bark thickness represented from 7.2 to 15.6mm. Average bark and wood percent was noticed (8.22%) and (91.78%) of the total volume, with annual ring growth width (3.17mm) that considered a slow-growing species. The highest heartwood proportion of stem volume was 75.32% and the lowest 42.01% with a mean of 61.46%. The sapwood proportion ranged between 23.68 and 57.99% with a mean of 38.54%. While the values of anatomical properties were: The mean values of fiber length, fiber diameter, double cell wall thickness, and fiber lumen width were 1.01mm, 15.54µm, 6.288µm, and 9.25µm respectively. Moreover, the mean values of vessel length and vessel diameters were 0.54mm and 179.80µm respectively. Significant differences were found in the pulpwood quality indices for the paper samples, the means value of the runkel index was 0.86, while, slenderness index was 68.84, the coefficient of flexibility was 0.57, and the average value of the stiffness coefficient was 0.421. The fibers length more than1mm and cell well is thick accordingly are classified as good for paper. Based on its morphological and physical properties, Q. aegilops wood can be used in various wood manufactures. Based on the anatomical properties and pulp quality indices, this wood could be used to obtain cellulose pulp for paper production.

The papers put forward by the candidate represent a significant contribution to three main areas within the body of knowledge of equine reproduction. Namely, i) epidemiological surveys of the efficiency of Thoroughbred racing and breeding, ii) the morphology and functions of the equine placenta and, iii) embryo transfer in the horse. Two extensive surveys on reproductive efficiency of Thoroughbred mares and stallions at stud and factors associated with the failure of Thoroughbred horses to train and race demonstrated that increasing mare age is the greatest limiting factor to an otherwise high rate of fertility in English Thoroughbreds although a high incidence of early embryonic death remains a significant loss to the breeding industry. The racing wastage survey showed little change over the past 20 years in the percentage of 2- and 3-year-old horses that fail to run, the percentage that are never placed in a race and the number that suffer significant injury or illness during their racing careers. Radical and innovative changes to training methods are needed to overcome these problems. The morphology of the equine placenta was examined using gross measurements, stereological-techniques, vascular casting and immunohistochemistry and the findings related to fetal development and postnatal growth. Stereological measurements applied to term placentae established reference parameters such as surface area per unit volume of placental microcotyledons, the total microscopic area of contact between mother and fetus at the placental interface, and placental VI efficiency. Maternal age, parity, size, genotype and nutrition were all shown to alter placental morphology and, hence, pre- and postnatal fetal development. A novel pair of cervical forceps were designed and marketed to provide a simple and practical method for undertaking transcervical embryo transfer in the horse which enables inexperienced operators to transfer horse embryos successfully. These Wilsher Equine Embryo Transfer Forceps have won widespread acclaim and commercial application in the equine veterinary and scientific communities. A pharmacological method to extend donor-recipient synchrony was developed with both commercial and scientific application. Further work also showed the unique ability of the equine embryo to tolerate a very wide window of donor-recipient asynchrony and it provided a valuable research tool with which to study the relevant roles of the conceptus and uterine environment in regulating embryonic differentiation and fetal growth in the mare.

An environmentally-based systems approach to sustainability analyses of organic fruit production systems in New Zealand. This research introduces an approach for the assessment of the sustainability of farming systems. It is based on the premises that sustainability has an environmental bottom line and that there is very limited substitutability between natural capital and other forms of capital. Sustainability assessment is undertaken through analyses of energy and material flows of the system and their impacts on the environment. The proposed sustainability assessment approach is based on two high level criteria for sustainability: efficient use of energy and non-degradation of the environment from energy and material use. Sustainability assessment of organic orchard systems in New Zealand was undertaken to demonstrate this approach. Five indicators which address the two criteria for the sustainability of the orchard systems are the energy ratio, the CO2 ratio, changes in the soil carbon level, nutrient balances, and the leaching of nitrogen. Organic kiwifruit and organic apple systems are modelled based on their key energy and material flows and their interactions with the natural environment. The energy and material flows are converted into appropriate energy and matter equivalents based on coefficients taken from the published literature. Sustainability indicators are estimated over one growing season using two computer modelling tools, Overseer® and Stella®, in a life cycle approach. Sustainability assessment of the organic orchard systems suggests that the approach is useful for evaluating energy use and key environmental impacts that occur in soil, water and atmosphere. The results indicate that the model organic orchard systems are sustainable in terms of energy use and are a net sink of CO2-equivalent emissions. The implication of this result is that organic orchard systems potentially could trade carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol. The findings also suggest that the sustainability assessment approach is capable of identifying the trade-offs within the sustainability indicators associated with particular management practices. Further research to improve and validate the proposed approach is essential, before it can be practically used for decision making at the orchard level and for policy making at the national level.

Irish agriculture is becoming increasingly regulated, with restrictions on fertiliser application rates and stocking rates to reduce nitrate (NO₀⁻) leaching losses. However these regulations have been, to date, based on minimal field research. The purpose of this study was to determine the actual leaching losses of nitrate from Irish dairy pasture at a range of stocking rates, and to investigate the effectiveness of the nitrification inhibitor DCD at reducing nitrate leaching losses where these are deemed excessive. In grazed pastures, a major source of leached nitrate is the urine patch, where a high rate of N is applied in one application. This trial recorded the losses from urine and non-urine areas of pasture separately. Nitrate leaching losses from three soils were recorded using lysimeters at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, over two years. Total nitrate losses were higher from the freely drained Clonakilty and Elton soils than from the heavy Rathangan soil. Mean nitrate losses from urine patches ranged from 16 - 233 kg nitrate-N / ha⁻¹, and were reduced by up to 53% when DCD was applied. DCD also reduced peak and mean nitrate-N concentrations in many cases. In addition, DCD halved the nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission factor on the Rathangan soil, caused increases in pasture N content, and increased herbage yield in some treatments. The distribution of urine patches under dairy grazing was recorded using GPS at Kilworth, Co. Cork. Cows were also found to deposit 0.359 urine patches per grazing hour. A model was produced to predict field-scale nitrate leaching losses from dairy pasture at a range of stocking rates. At 2.94 cows per hectare, the highest stocking rate, annual field N loss was below 34 kg nitrate-N ha⁻¹, mean drainage N concentrations were below 5.65 mg nitrate-N L⁻¹ (the EU drinking water guideline value), and the worst-case-scenario autumn peak concentration did not exceed 21.55 mg nitrate-N L⁻¹ (above the EU Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) but below the World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking water limit). DCD reduced total annual field N loss by 21% (a conservative estimate), and also reduced mean and peak nitrate concentrations. Provided fertiliser application rates are at or below 291 kg N ha⁻¹, and based on current legislative values for drinking water quality, this trial does not support any blanket restrictions on the stocking rate of Irish dairy farms. However where particularly high water quality is required, DCD shows potential as a useful tool to achieve low nitrate concentrations.

Understanding the effect of food insecurity of vulnerable individuals is necessary to develop strategies for improving lives of those individuals. In this study I explore the effect of a low-cost, unobtrusive intervention on food pantry clients’ choice of healthier food items at a local food pantry. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a food pantry in the Midwest U.S. using the randomized controlled trial method. Participants in the intervention group received a nutrition ranking information about the food items in the pantry during their visit. Both the intervention and control groups reported their food selections. Additionally, client demographic information was collected in surveys. Data were collected from October 2018 to January 2019. A total of 615 adults were recruited and randomized for the nutrition ranking intervention (n=300) and control group (n=315). Multiple linear regression models were used to predict the outcomes of the intervention while controlling for demographic characteristics such as age, gender, household size, and education level. There was no significant response to the nutritional ranking intervention as it appears that the intervention was ineffective at changing behavior. Results suggest that future studies are needed to determine a low-cost intervention for food pantry clients during their short time at the food pantry.

The poultry industry has rapidly grown in the last few years with a focus in improving growth and productivity of broiler chickens, with performance assessed on measures such as feed conversion ratio, body weight gain and good immunity. The incorporation of antibiotics and feed additives in poultry diets, have been implemented for years to ensure the maintenance of poultry health with a focus on the control and reduction of zoonotic pathogens. In the last few years, however, key issues surrounding the antimicrobial resistance of antibiotics have urged for alternative supplementations. Nanoparticles (NPs) of silver and other metals have been heavily used in the poultry industry to improve the growth and performance of birds. Whilst successful, metal NPs exhibited higher toxicity at the higher surface to volume ratio, especially with the use of silver. This study proposes the use of NPs of essential metals and natural compounds to safely deliver nutrients, resulting in positive impacts on health and productivity with little to no toxic effects. Selenium is an essential mineral, required for the proper functioning of the immunity and is an important element in the first cell line of defence in the body. The work described in this thesis explores the ability of selenium NPs to improve the health and growth of broiler chickens by modulating their gut microbiome and metabolome, without the toxic effects observed with silver. Selenium NPs were synthesised using a simple chemical reduction method and a full characterisation was performed, assessing the physicochemical properties of the NP. Selenium NPs were then compared in an animal trial against two commonly used selenium additives in the poultry industry, sodium selenite (inorganic selenium) and selenomethionine (organic selenium). The performance of the birds was assessed based on body weight gain, the gut microbial composition and metabolite production. The toxicity of NPs was further investigated by quantifying selenium concentration in various tissues, along with a detailed histopathological assessment. Results show selenium NPs completely altered the gut microbial ecology at high concentration, with a strong correlation observed between Faecalibacterium prausnitzii abundance and increasing concentration of selenium NPs. Selenium NPs additionally increased villus height/crypt ratio associated with enhanced absorption in the small intestine and an overall increase of healthy colonic metabolites. Finally, an in vitro study demonstrated the ability of selenium NPs to reduce emerging pathogenic Enterococcus cecorum species. This thesis demonstrates the prospective ability of selenium NPs as alternatives to antibiotics and bulk supplementation, resulting in an improvement of health and performance of broiler chickens in the poultry industry.

Poisoning of cattle by plants of the Pimelea species incurs heavy losses to individual producers in regions of South West Queensland, North Western New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. Due to the vast

areas of affected land, control of the plant is perceived as non -viable. Therefore, the aim of this study has been to contribute to the development of methods to reduce the losses caused by the condition from an animal health

perspective.

Immunisation with conjugates of a purified mixture of Pimelea toxins and ovalbumin with varying inclusion ratios has resulted in the production of bovine serum IgG antibodies, which attenuate the effect of purified Pimelea

toxins on bovine pulmonary venule preparations in vitro. Cattle immunised with a vaccine batched from two conjugates from experimental studies have been shown to develop toxin specific antibody responses while affected and unaffected by poisoning at the time of immunisation. Experiments to evaluate the protective attributes of the vaccine under field conditions have produced consistent, yet non -significant results regarding liveweight and condition

scores of vaccinated animals. Therefore, no immediate conclusions can be drawn regarding the protective properties of the experimental vaccine without futrther investigation.

Investigation of a structure -activity relationship of the Pimelea toxins has resulted in new knowledge regarding key functional requirements for binding to and activation of protein kinase C (PKC). A structural variant of simplexin

was found not to activate PKC in vitro, therefore the conversion of simplexin to this compound in the rumen of cattle would provide a means of reducing the impact caused by Pimelea poisoning. It was found that hydroxyl groups at the 4- and 5- positions of simplexin were essential for PKC binding. Carbonyl functionality at position 3- of simplexin, although significant for PKC binding, was shown to be more related to the activation properties of the resulting complex. The alteration of hydroxyl functionality at the 20- position of

mezerein (a selected reference compound) was shown not to significantly alter binding, however no conclusion can be drawn regarding the importance of this functionality of simplexin.

Derivatisation of Pimelea toxin for assay by gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was found not to be feasible.

Women who operate small-scale farms and sell to small markets in Indiana may encounter certain obstacles and constraints due to self-employment in the traditionally male-dominated field of agriculture. Researchers have recognized the role of sustainable agriculture ideology in attracting women to these niche agricultural markets. Despite increasing opportunities for women in sustainable agriculture, research suggests that traditional gender roles are often maintained, manifesting itself through several obstacles (Pilgeram & Amos, 2015). Female agricultural entrepreneurs encounter obstacles including work-family balance, geographic barriers, access to physical resources, access to financial resources, access to places of information. Previous research indicates that female entrepreneurs have less access to human, social, and financial capital to support their business ventures (Powell & Eddleston, 2013). However, this study explored the feminine perspective and management styles which may serve as beneficial resources.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe existing obstacles encountered by female entrepreneurs in niche agricultural markets and their methods of building resilience in their business. Quantitative data was collected through an online survey of 62 agricultural entrepreneurs across the state of Indiana. Participants were asked questions pertaining to their business structure, resources, constraints, processes, achievements, and demographics. Several responses to open-ended questions were also collected and analyzed through open, axial coding. Study results include the diversity of the population, value of human capital resources, prioritization of quality products, significance of internal constraints, discrepancies in division of labor and women’s obstacles to access to social networks. A greater understanding of the obstacles encountered by women agricultural entrepreneurs can also provide valuable insight to Land-Grant University Extension, policymakers, and stakeholders in the Indiana agriculture industry.

STEM education is a top priority in the educational development of youth across the United States as the country tries to address the need of having a more well equipped, prepared, and educated workforce. Agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) has the ability to provide a relevant context for engaging students in STEM education through experiential learning. Tragically, both STEM and AFNR struggle to reach and engage more diversified audiences, especially students of color. AFNR education provides an authentic avenue to center STEM engagement around addressing societal grand challenges like food and nutritional security, childhood-obesity, and climate change; issues faced by all communities. The approaches and steps taken to address these AFNR related grand challenges can all be explored through the lens of food systems. Food systems is a concept within AFNR that encompasses the interdisciplinary components of AFNR, STEM, and social sciences that provides a breakdown for the process and system involved in getting food from farm to fork. In an era where youth are more disconnected from understanding where their food comes from, food systems education has the ability to reconnect youth to the root of this issue and the potential to lead them to explore finding solutions to the grand challenges facing their generation. Furthermore, food systems education provides a context to engage youth in authentic learning experiences in nonformal and formal classroom settings around relevant issues with the potential to enhance their interests and concerns around these topics.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe elementary school students’ interests and concerns about the food system, and their overall engagement in the learning experience after participating in an authentic learning based Virtual Agri+STEM Camp focused on food systems education, AFNR, and STEM activities. The convenience sample for this study was made up of elementary school students between grades 3^rd and 8^th grade (N = 99) who were either in the classroom or participating in an at-home Agri+STEM session. The majority of these students were from rural communities and most of them were African Americans. Quantitative data was collected before and after participation in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp experience that using the research developed Food System Interest and Food System Concern instrument. Previous AFNR related experiences were also reported by students. The researcher also used an adapted version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and STEM Semantics survey to measure student engagement and attitudes after participating in the experience. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, which included means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages. To explore the relationships between each of the variables, correlations were also computed.

There were four conclusions for this study. First, students that participated in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp were motivated and engaged in the learning process while doing the Agri+STEM Camp activities. Second, students that participated in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp were interested and concerned about the food system before and after participating in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp. Third, African American student participants reported less previous AFNR experiences, yet they reported more interests and concerns in the food system than Caucasian American participants before and after completing the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp. Lastly, Students that felt more competent, saw the value, and were interested/enjoyed the Agri+STEM experience were more likely to be interested and concerned about the food system. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice and policy were discussed.

Examines the flow characterisation of molasses in four different pipe fittings at low Reynolds number.. This thesis examines the flow characterisation of molasses, a highly viscous non-Newtonian fluid, in four different pipe fittings at low Reynolds number. This flow condition of low Reynolds is typically encountered in sugar mills. The experimental results reveal that the current 2K method in use in the sugar industry substantially overestimates the actual losses at very low Reynolds number. New experimental data for these flows, are presented in this thesis to predict the head loss accurately and to improve design of pipework in sugar mills . Chapter 1 discusses the basic theory and constitutive equations to define Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids and their flows. The aims and plans for this study are also laid out here. Chapter 2 gives the details on selection of the fittings, the design and construction of the test rigs, experimental set up and the other technical details related to the equipment used in the experiment. Chapter 3 discusses experimental and test.procedure. It presents fluid preparation, fluid characterisation, flow induction, measurement of the flow rate. Chapter 4 presents calculation procedure and results of the experiments conducted on various fittings with molasses of different viscosity. Chapter 5 gives analysis and correlation of the experimental data. Chapter 6 presents the major conclusion drawn from this project and makes suggestions and proposals for further work in this area.

The aim of the studies in this thesis was to develop a treatment protocol that controlled ovarian follicular growth so that the time of optimum fertility could be predicted in female alpacas. Female alpacas exhibit growth and regression of successive large follicles and typically only ovulate in response to the mating stimulus. Non-pregnant females are sexually receptive most of the time, apparently regardless of the stage of ovarian follicular growth. Conventional breeding results in slow genetic gain because matings occur at random stages of follicular development. Because of the nature of their reproductive physiology, assisted breeding technologies are poorly developed in alpacas and the Australian alpaca industry relies on transport of males and females over relatively large distances to disseminate superior genotypes. The efficiency of this form of genetic improvement would be enhanced if conception rates to a single mating could be increased. Initial studies in this thesis aimed to clarify ovarian follicular growth characteristics in nonpregnant females. An inverse relationship between the diameter of the largest follicle and the number of follicles detected supports the hypothesis that follicular growth in camelids occurs in waves. It was established that the growth characteristics of follicular waves varied within and between females. Wide variation in the interval between successive follicular waves made the use of a mean interwave interval value inappropriate. Non-pregnant alpacas had a follicle in the size range potentially capable of ovulating, but of unknown fertility, on either ovary most of the time. A second objective was to determine the relationships between sexual receptivity, mating behaviour, ovarian follicular state and mating success. It was not possible to correlate mating behaviour or ovarian status with mating success. Matings to optimise pregnancy rates in alpacas need to occur in the presence of an oestrogenic follicle that is capable of ovulation in response to mating. Simple detection of alpacas with follicles in this state was not possible and treatments to control ovarian follicular growth were therefore investigated. Attempts to control ovarian follicular waves in alpacas were focussed on inducing regression of the existing dominant follicle of unknown age and allowing emergence of a new cohort of follicles at a known time after treatment. The induction of ovulation to remove the existing dominant follicle was not considered in these studies. Single intramuscular (i.m.) injections of 1713-oestradiol (oestradiol) or oestradiol benzoate, at different doses and with and without simultaneous injection of progesterone, were unsuccessful in controlling follicular growth to allow emergence of a new follicular wave at a known time. This finding was unexpected given that oestradiol causes the regression of follicles in cattle and sheep. It was concluded that alpacas, and perhaps camelids in general, have different intra- and/or extra-ovarian mechanisms that control follicular growth and regression compared with ruminants that are spontaneous ovulators. Subsequent studies examined the effects of different protocols of progesterone treatment on ovarian follicular growth and regression. Twice daily i.m. injection of25 mg of progesterone for 21 days was effective at inducing regression of the existing dominant follicle and suppressing emergence of a new follicular wave until treatment ceased. To make the treatment more practical and reduce the number of injections required, subcutaneous implants of norgestomet and lower frequency, higher dose progesterone treatments were examined. The most practical and effective protocol for ovarian follicular control in female alpacas was provided by 200 mg progesterone injected i.m. on Days 0, 2 and 4. The majority of females treated with this protocol had a newlyemerged follicle with a diameter capable of ovulation on Day 16, 12 days after progesterone treatment ceased. Mating trials were performed on three commercial alpaca farms to compare pregnancy rates at Day 60 in females treated with the progesterone protocol and mated on Day 16 and females mated at random. Results showed that treated females were capable of ovulation, fertilisation and pregnancy, however, there was no difference in 60-day pregnancy test percentage between females receiving the Day 0-4 progesterone synchronisation protocol and females treated with oil placebo. The oocyte contained in the first dominant follicle following progesterone treatment would need to be of normal fertility in order for the progesterone-based protocol to increase pregnancy rates to a single mating. As a first step to examining oocyte integrity, oocytes were retrieved by ultrasound-guided, transvaginal aspiration on Day 17 in females treated with the progesterone protocol described above involving injections on Days 0, 2 and 4. Half of these females had an injection ofluteinising hormone (LH) on Day 16 to simulate a mating-induced LH surge. Oocytes were examined by light and electron microscopy to observe whether the cellular ultrastructure was indicative of normal maturation. Only oocytes from those females that received LH showed changes to the cellular ultrastructure indicative of normal maturation including meiotic progression (nuclear maturation) from Prophase I to Metaphase I, an increase in the width of the perivitelline space and expansion of the cumulus cells surrounding the oocyte. This finding was interpreted to suggest that the oocyte contained in the first ovulatory follicle after progesterone treatment has a normal capacity for fertilisation and embryo development competency. This thesis presents new information on ovarian follicular wave characteristics in nonpregnant female alpacas and introduces a practical protocol based on progesterone to control ovarian follicular growth. The protocol allows for fixed-time mating. The Australian alpaca industry will benefit from more efficient utilisation of genetically superior males and females and faster dissemination of improved genotypes throughout the national herd. Potential benefits include incorporation of the progesterone protocol into other assisted breeding technologies such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and possibly the in vivo maturation of oocytes for in vitro fertilisation.